Cancer medicine spans ancient tumors to climate-aware clinics
Oncology studies, diagnoses, treats, and tries to prevent cancer. Egyptian records from around 3000 BCE described breast bulges; Galen coined onkos for tumors. Today pathologists biopsies guide surgery, chemo, radiation, immunotherapy, and palliative teams—while French and Belgian clinicians worry about oncology's environmental footprint.
An oncologist may specialize in surgery, radiation, gynaecologic, geriatric, pediatric, or organ-specific cancer care. Medical histories screen fatigue, weight loss, anemia, fever, and paraneoplastic signs. Diagnosis leans on biopsy or resection examined by pathologists; endoscopy, mammography, CT, MRI, ultrasound, PET, and SPECT localize suspicious tissue. Blood tumor markers assist some cancers. Imaging also judges operability—whether a mass can be fully removed. Tissue classification is essential; when primary site stays unknown, immunohistochemistry and empirical therapy follow past patterns. Acute leukemias may need immediate admission; slower cancers can be watched with exams and scans.
Surgery removes tumors when feasible, debulks when complete excision is impossible, or palliates obstruction—as in biliary blockages. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy serve as first-line radical treatment, adjuvant therapy after apparent complete removal, or palliation when cure is unrealistic. Hormone manipulation treats breast and prostate disease. Monoclonal antibodies such as rituximab and trastuzumab join checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cells, and vaccines in active use and research. Pediatric remission rates exceed many adult cancers, yet pain, nausea, fatigue, and dignity issues persist; palliative care matured into a allied specialty still underused for stage IV lung cancer even in public systems.
Next-generation and whole-genome sequencing reshape classification toward personalized medicine. UK trials often coordinate through Cancer Research UK, MRC, EORTC, or NCRN networks. Major pharmaceutical firms focus on kinase inhibitors, antibodies, immuno-oncology, and radiopharmaceuticals. A 2025 cross-sectional survey of 330 oncology professionals in France and Belgium found two-thirds saw oncology as more environmentally harmful than other specialties, ranking chemotherapy, biotherapy, radiotherapy, imaging, and patient transport as top burdens. Environmental integration scored 8.3 of 100; institutional efforts averaged 15.3 of 100—yet 97.7 percent would adopt lower-impact strategies if efficacy equivalence were proven.
Source: Oncology
