At its most basic level, cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell division.
In a healthy body, your cells constantly follow a strict set of rules. They grow, divide to make new cells, and die when they get old or damaged. Cancer happens when genetic mutations break those rules, causing abnormal cells to grow and multiply when they shouldn't.
Cancer is caused by changes (mutations) in the DNA within cells.
The DNA inside a cell contains a set of instructions telling the cell how to grow and divide. When mutations occur, a cell can lose its normal boundaries and turn cancerous.
While a tiny fraction of cancers are purely down to luck (random copying errors when a cell divides), most cases result from a combination of inherited traits, environment, and lifestyle habits. Oncologists generally group these risk factors into three main categories.
A medical oncologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing, planning, and managing the systemic medical treatment of cancer.
If you or a loved one are diagnosed with cancer, the medical oncologist is typically the main doctor who coordinates your overall care, acting as the quarterback for your medical team.
While some cancer doctors perform surgeries or administer radiation, medical oncologists treat cancer primarily using medications that travel through the entire body to target cancer cells.
