Medical oncology
Treatment, planned around you
Medical oncology is the medicine side of cancer care. Which tool, at what dose, in what order — decided from your biopsy, your stage and the goal we agree together, and reviewed as we go.
- 01ChemotherapyChemotherapy is medicine that kills or slows fast-dividing cancer cells. In medical oncology it is one tool among several — chosen, dosed and sequenced for your cancer, your stage and the goal you agree with your doctor, then adjusted as your response and side effects are monitored.
- 02ImmunotherapyImmunotherapy helps your own immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. The most widely used type, checkpoint inhibitors, removes a "brake" that some cancers use to hide from immune cells. It works very well for some people and some cancers, less for others — which is why testing and honest expectation-setting come first.
- 03Targeted therapyTargeted therapy uses medicines designed to act on a specific change that drives a particular cancer — a mutated gene, an over-active protein or a growth signal. Testing comes first: the right drug for the right target, and no targeted drug at all if the target is not there.
- 04Second opinionA second opinion is a structured review of your diagnosis, stage and proposed treatment by another qualified oncologist. It is most valuable before a major, hard-to-reverse step — surgery, the first cycle of chemotherapy, or a change of plan — and a good doctor will not mind you asking.
- 05Hormone therapySome cancers — most often breast and prostate cancers — grow in response to the body's own hormones. Hormone therapy (endocrine therapy) lowers those hormones or blocks their effect on the cancer. This page explains how it works and when it is used. Dr Atreya prescribes and monitors hormone therapy as part of his practice.