Oncologist
 Oncologists are physicians who study, diagnose, and treat cancerous tumors. This medical field is often associated with hematology (the study of the blood). The oncologist often coordinates the multidisciplinary care of cancer patients, which may involve physiotherapy, counseling, clinical genetics, to name but a few. Oncologists often have to work closely with pathologists on the exact biological nature of the tumor that is being treated.
Oncology requires expertise in a large number of medical and technical disciplines, from surgery to nutrition, immunology to biochemistry, and diagnosis of symptoms to treatment of tumors with nuclear radiation.
There are subspecialties within the field of oncology. The medical oncologist is primarily responsible for prescribing and implementing chemotherapy, along with diagnosing and treating complications unique to cancer and coordinating the total treatment plan for cancer patients.
Surgical oncologists perform cancer surgery. Pediatric oncologists diagnose and treat cancer in children. Gynecologic oncologists deal with cancer that occurs in the female reproductive system. Radiation oncology is concerned with the application of radiation in the treatment of cancer.
An important diagnostic tool remains the medical history: the character of the complaints and any specific symptoms (fatigue, weight loss, unexplained anemia, fever of unknown origin, paraneoplastic phenomena and other signs). Often a physical examination will reveal the location of a malignancy.
Diagnostic methods include:
Biopsy, either incisional or excisional;
Endoscopy, either upper or lower gastrointestinal, bronchoscopy, or nasendoscopy;
X-rays, CT scanning, MRI scanning, ultrasound and other radiological techniques;
Scintigraphy, Positron emission tomography and other methods of nuclear medicine;
Blood tests, which would include tumor markers, can increase the suspicion of certain types of tumors or even be pathognomonic of a particular disease.
Apart from in diagnosis, these tests (especially imaging by CT scanning) are often used to determine whether it is surgically possible to remove a tumor in its entirety.
A "tissue diagnosis" (from a biopsy) is commonly used to identify cancer. When this is not possible, empirical therapy (without an exact diagnosis) may be given, based on the available evidence (e.g. history, x-rays and scans.)
Occasionally, a metastatic lump or pathological lymph node is found (typically in the neck) for which a primary tumor cannot be found. This situation is referred to as "carcinoma of unknown primary", and again, treatment is empirical based on past experience of the most likely origin.
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