Oncology facts for kids

Oncology is a special part of medicine. It focuses on understanding, finding, and treating cancer. It also helps prevent cancer and supports patients after treatment. A doctor who works in oncology is called an oncologist. The word "oncology" comes from a Greek word meaning "tumor" or "mass."

Oncology helps with many things related to cancer:

• Finding out if someone has cancer (this is called diagnosis).
• Treating cancer using different methods like surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy.
• Checking on patients after they have finished their cancer treatment.
• Making sure patients with serious cancer feel comfortable and have a good quality of life.
• Thinking about the right and fair ways to care for cancer patients.
• Doing screening tests to find cancer early. This can be for many people or for family members who might be at higher risk.

How Doctors Find Cancer

Doctors use different ways to find out if someone has cancer. They start by asking about a person's health history. Sometimes, general symptoms like feeling very tired, losing weight without trying, or having a fever can be signs. A physical check-up can also sometimes help find a problem area.

Here are some common ways doctors diagnose cancer:

• Biopsy: This is the main way to find cancer. A doctor takes a small piece of the suspicious area. A special doctor called a pathologist then looks at it under a microscope. This helps confirm if it's cancer and what kind it is.
• Endoscopy: Doctors use a thin tube with a camera to look inside the body. They can check areas like the stomach, lungs, or bladder. If they see something unusual, they can take a biopsy.
• Imaging Scans: These include Mammograms, X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, and ultrasound. These pictures help doctors see inside the body to find tumors. They also help plan surgery.
• Nuclear Medicine: Tests like PET scans use special substances to find areas where cancer cells might be active.
• Blood Tests: Some blood tests can look for "tumor markers." These are substances that might be higher in people with certain types of cancer.

Getting a biopsy and looking at the tissue is very important. It helps doctors know exactly what kind of cancer it is. This guides them in choosing the best treatment plan.

How Doctors Treat Cancer

Cancer treatment depends on the type of cancer and how far it has spread. Sometimes, treatment starts right away. Other times, doctors watch the patient closely with regular check-ups.

Here are the main ways cancer is treated:

• Surgery: Doctors often try to remove the tumor completely with surgery. This works best when the tumor can be taken out without harming important body parts. Sometimes, surgery can remove most of the tumor, even if not all of it. This is called "debulking." Surgery can also help ease problems caused by a tumor.
• Chemotherapy: This uses strong medicines to kill cancer cells. It can be given through an IV or as pills. Chemotherapy can be the main treatment, or it can be used after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells. It can also help improve life quality for patients with advanced cancer.
• Radiotherapy: This uses high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells. Like chemotherapy, it can be a main treatment or used after surgery. It also helps patients feel better by shrinking tumors that cause pain or other problems.
• Hormone Therapy: Some cancers, like breast and prostate cancer, grow because of hormones. Hormone therapy blocks these hormones or stops the body from making them.
• Targeted Therapy: These medicines are designed to attack specific parts of cancer cells. They are often more precise than chemotherapy and can have fewer side effects.
• Immunotherapy: This type of treatment helps your body's own immune system fight cancer. It can make your immune system stronger or help it recognize cancer cells better.
• Vaccines: Scientists are also researching vaccines and other ways to boost the immune system to fight cancer.

Helping Patients Feel Better

For many cancer patients, especially those with advanced disease, the goal is to make them feel as comfortable as possible. This is called palliative care. It's about improving a patient's quality of life.

Palliative care helps with many issues that cancer or its treatment can cause. These include pain, nausea, not wanting to eat, feeling tired, and feeling sad. Palliative care teams often include nurses and doctors who can visit patients at home. They work closely with the oncology team to provide the best support.

Cancer Research and Progress

Doctors and scientists are always doing a lot of research on cancer. They study how cancer cells grow, how radiation therapy works, and how to make chemotherapy better. They also look for new ways to help patients with pain and other symptoms.

New technologies, like advanced genetic testing, are helping us understand cancer much better. This research can lead to new ways to find and treat cancer. It also helps create "personalized medicine," where treatments are made just for one person's cancer.

Many hospitals work together on big research studies. These studies help find the best ways to treat different cancers. Big companies around the world are also working hard to create new cancer medicines.

Different Types of Oncology

Oncology has many different areas of focus. Here are some of the main ones:

• Medical Oncology: This focuses on treating cancer with medicines like chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy.
• Surgical Oncology: These doctors remove cancer using surgery.
• Radiation Oncology: These doctors treat cancer using radiation.
• Clinical Oncology: This combines both medicine treatments and radiation.

There are also many sub-specialties that focus on specific parts of the body or types of cancer:

• Neuro-oncology: For brain cancers.
• Ocular oncology: For eye cancers.
• Head & Neck oncology: For cancers in the mouth, nose, throat, and voice box.
• Thoracic oncology: For cancers in the lungs and chest area.
• Breast oncology: For breast cancers.
• Gastrointestinal oncology: For cancers of the stomach, colon, liver, and pancreas.
• Bone & Musculoskeletal oncology: For cancers of bones and soft tissues.
• Dermatological oncology: For skin cancers.
• Genitourinary oncology: For cancers of the urinary and reproductive systems.
• Gynecologic oncology: For cancers of the female reproductive system.
• Pediatric oncology: For cancer in children.
• Adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology: For cancer in teens and young adults.
• Hemato oncology: For blood cancers.
• Preventive oncology: Focuses on stopping cancer from happening.
• Geriatric oncology: For cancer in older people.
• Molecular oncology: Uses genetic information to diagnose and treat cancer.
• Psycho-oncology: Helps patients and families with the emotional side of cancer.
• Veterinary oncology: Treats cancer in animals.

See also

In Spanish: Oncología para niños