oncology

oncology — noun

1. the medical field that focuses on cancer and tumors, including how doctors find

1.nounC2
Definition

the medical field that focuses on cancer and tumors, including how doctors find them early, study them, and treat them.

Example

Mina chose oncology after volunteering on a cancer ward in college.

pattern: choose / study oncology

The hospital opened a new oncology center beside the main surgery building.

collocation: oncology center

Common collocations
  • study oncology
  • work in oncology
  • oncology ward
  • oncology center
  • pediatric oncology
Synonyms
  • cancer medicine

    plain-English description of the field, not the fixed academic term

  • clinical oncology

    narrower hospital specialty focused on treating cancer patients

  • medical oncology

    narrower subspecialty, especially drug treatment such as chemotherapy

Grammar Patterns

study oncology

work in oncology

specialize in oncology

Usage Note

Usually uncountable and most often used after verbs such as 'study', 'teach', 'enter', or 'work in'. In hospital contexts, it can also name the specialty area behind phrases like 'oncology ward' or 'oncology center'.

Common Mistakes

She studies oncologies at medical school.
She studies oncology at medical school.
the name of a medical field is usually uncountable.
He works at oncology.
He works in oncology.
use 'in' for a field or specialty.

Word family

  • oncologist
    nounC2
  • oncological
    adjectiveC2
  • oncologic
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Oncology' is the broad standard term for the whole medical field dealing with cancer, from research and diagnosis to treatment and follow-up care. 'Cancer medicine' is a plain-English way to explain the idea, but it is less fixed and sounds less professional than 'oncology'. 'Clinical oncology' is narrower and usually points to hospital-based treatment work rather than the whole academic field; in some systems it especially includes radiotherapy. 'Medical oncology' is narrower again, focusing mainly on drug treatment such as chemotherapy or targeted therapy. So a student may decide to study 'oncology', a doctor may work in 'clinical oncology', and a specialist giving chemotherapy is often a 'medical oncologist'.

oncology ↗cancer medicineclinical oncologymedical oncology

Common collocations

Nouns

  • oncology ward
  • oncology center
  • oncology clinic
  • oncology department
  • oncology nurse

Phrases

  • study oncology
  • go into oncology
  • work in oncology
  • specialize in oncology

Prepositions

  • in oncology
  • into oncology

Etymology

GreekEnglish

Built in modern medical English from Greek elements: 'onkos', meaning 'mass' or 'swelling', and '-logy', meaning 'the study of'. Because tumors were long understood as abnormal swellings or masses, the word first pointed to the study of tumors and later became the name of the wider field dealing with cancer.