Everybody knows about cancer and what it
can do to the human body. Perhaps the most dreaded (for good reason) and hard
to treat the disease to ever hit homo sapiens, cancer claims millions of lives
across the world every year.
But few pay attention to what's being
done to battle cancer. Apart from a large number of casualties, today, fighting
cancer is a possibility. This is where oncology comes in. A branch of medical
studies, oncology is dedicated to the studies of cancers and tumours and works
towards advancements in treatments to eradicate the disease in time.
Before diving deeper into oncology,
let's understand how old cancer is itself.
Early evidence of cancer can be found
among fossilised bone tumours, ancient manuscripts and human mummies of ancient
Egypt. Various
bone abnormalities were found in these mummies, who dated back to about
3000 BC. The papyrus described these conditions to be
“incurable”.
What
does an Oncologist do?
Doctors
who practice oncology (the specialised
study of cancer) are called oncologists.
Various oncologists have various specific roles. They understand the working
and spread of cancer cells, help in the diagnosis of cancer, staging it, and
grading the aggressive nature of cancer.
The
Oncology Utility-Belt
The most important tool that oncologists
have at their disposal when treating a patient is the clinical history of the
patient. Common symptoms that point towards cancer include fatigue, weight
loss, unexplained anaemia, fever of unknown origin etc.
Other methods like biopsy or extraction
of bits of the tumour tissue and examining it under the microscope. Endoscopy inside the oesophagus, imagery techniques
like X-rays, MRI scans, ultrasound and other radiological techniques are
also used for diagnosis.
The Types of Oncologists
Oncologists
usually fall in one of three major categories- Medical oncologists, who treats
the cancer with chemotherapy and medications. Surgical oncologist who removes
the tumor and affected tissues. Radiation oncologist who treat the patient with
radiation therapy.
Treatment of a patient may also involve other relevant specialists. The oncologists are however, the coordinators of the team.
Maintaining
Treatment
After the completion of initial therapy,
it is the oncologist who is responsible for the further care of the patient to
prevent cases of relapse (recurrence) and ensuring remission (remaining
cancer-free)
Predictive
analysis
Oncology research also involves scanning
the population for the disease and screening relatives of patients who have
been affected as well in hereditary cancer origin cases.
Oncology
going strong
There has been more progress in advanced
oncology now more than ever before. Advancements in areas ranging from cancer
cell biology to chemotherapy regimens and optimal palliative care and pain
relief have proven that Cancer treatment has come a long way and has a
continuously changing future.
If you're looking for cancer treatment but may
not be able to handle the incurred costs, look for treatment options elsewhere
where you can get reputed and quality treatment for much lower prices. For
instance, consider Colon cancer treatment cost. The colon cancer treatment cost in India is much lower than what it would cost a patient being treated in say
the US or UK. If you're coming from abroad, look for organisations that help
you find some of the best oncologists and hospitals in India, and you could
save a good amount of funds.
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