Cancer care may involve receiving treatment from a variety of different specialists and choosing the right cancer specialists for your specific situation is important.
Specialists with training and expertice in the treatment of cancer:
- Medical Oncologists – (Hematology/Oncology) are internists with training and experience in the treatment of cancer. They coordinate patient care from diagnosis through the course of the disease, assisting with pain and symptom management. When needed, they prescribe chemotherapy and other anti-cancer drugs.
- Radiation Oncologists – provide radiation therapy treatment such as brachytherapy and image guided radiation therapy. They develop and prescribe cancer treatment plans and monitor patient progress.
Surgeons within certain specialties remove or treat specific cancers:
- General Surgeons – provide the majority of cancer surgery including breast cancer, colorectal cancer and others.
- Urologic Surgeons – focus on prostate, bladder and testicular cancers. They also are involved in the medical and surgical treatment of the urinary tract in both men and women as well as the reproductive tract in men.
- Thoracic Surgeons (Cardiovascular) – treat diseases of the chest including coronary artery disease as well as cancers of the lung, esophagus and chest wall. They also treat abnormalities of the great vessels and heart valves, birth defects of the chest and heart.
- Neurosurgeons – specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of brain cancers. They also treat other disorders of the brain, spinal cord, nerves and spinal column.
- Orthopedic Surgeons – generally specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of bone cancer and surgical or non-surgical conditions affecting muscles, joints, and bones.
- Gynecologic Oncology Surgeons – specialize on surgery of ovarian, endometrial and other gynecologic cancers.
- Otolaryngology Surgeons – specialize in treatment and surgery of the ear, nose and throat as well as head/neck cancers.
- Plastic Surgeons – provide reconstructive surgery following cancer treatment.