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Oncology Frequently Asked Questions

Q
What is Oncology?
A
Oncology is the study and management of malignant disease. Its origin is from the Greek word ογκοσ, meaning mass or bulk.
Q
What is cancer?
A
Cancer is a name for a group of malignant diseases: cancer is many diseases, not just one disease. Some cancers scarcely cause any trouble at all, others are life-threatening. Cancer starts when one of the cells in our body goes wrong - turns malignant. Malignant cells share several things in common:
  • Cells increase in number and this increase is not controlled in any way: "uncontrolled proliferation"
  • Cells have the ability to burrow and squirm their way into and through neighbouring areas: "invasion"
  • Cells have the ability to force blood vessels to develop, this enables the tumour to grow, almost as a parasite, upon its normal neighbours: "angiogenesis"
  • Cells have the ability to detach themselves and spread through the body, like seeds on the wind. Each cell has the ability to produce another tumour somewhere else: "metastasis"
  • Cells that are supposed to die off, don't: "loss of apoptosis".
Like psychopaths, cancer cells do not obey or respect any of their society's rules.
Q
What is a cell?
A
A cell is the basic building block from which we are made. Each cell is a little biological machine and carries within it a complete set of instructions for making a human being - the genome. Cells come in all sorts, shapes and sizes: skin cells, muscle cells, brain cells, gut cells, blood cells and so on. In normal life, cells exist in partnership and harmony. As cells are needed, they are made. As cells are no longer needed, they die off. We are, in effect, a society of cells, a society that is a miracle of organisation and coordination. Each of us has about 100,000,000,000,000 cells in our bodies. Cells are very small - you could easily fit 10 million cells on the head of a pin. You can see the problem with trying to detect cancer. How do you find something as small as a cancer cell in something as large, and as complex, as the human body?
Q
What is an Oncologist?
A
An oncologist is a doctor (surgeon or physician or gynaecologist) who specialises in the treatment of cancer.