Oncology

Oncology: The field of medicine devoted to cancer.

In clinical oncology, there are three primary disciplines:

Medical oncology -- the treatment of cancer with medicine, including chemotherapy.

Surgical oncology -- the surgical aspects of cancer including biopsy, staging and surgical resection of tumors.

Radiation oncology -- the treatment of cancer with therapeutic radiation. (Radiation oncology is also called radiation therapy or radiotherapy.)

Breast cancer is diagnosed with self- and physician-examination of the breasts, mammography, ultrasound testing, and biopsy. There are many types of breast cancer that differ in their capability of spreading to other body tissues (metastasis). Treatment of breast cancer depends on the type and location of the breast cancer, as well as the age and health of the patient. The American Cancer Society recommends that a woman should have a baseline mammogram between the ages of 35 and 40 years. Between 40 and 50 years of age mammograms are recommended every other year. After age 50 years, yearly mammograms are recommended.

Worldwide, it is the most common form of cancer in females, affecting approximately one out of twelve to thirteen women who reach age ninety at some stage of their life in the Western world. Because the breast is composed of identical tissues in males and females, breast cancer can also occur in males, but here the incidence is very low, less than 1 percent. (Herceptin)