Your initial consultation
At your first appointment, you will meet with the medical oncologist and discuss the management of your cancer. The doctor will assess your symptoms, examine you, and review any recent blood tests, x-rays and biopsy results. It is useful to bring to your appointment a list of any test results that were not performed at the ONJ Centre, as well as a list of your current medications.
The doctor will explain what cancer you have, where the cancer is within your body, and what treatment may be required. The doctor will explain what clinical trials are available for your cancer, and whether any additional cancer team members such as surgeons or radiation oncology specialists will be required to treat you.
Treatment planning
Your medical oncologist will create an individual treatment plan for you based on a review of where the cancer is within your body, the type of cancer you have, your fitness level, any other medical problems you may have and what your goals of care are. The doctor will discuss your treatment options with you so a plan can be agreed together about the best care for you.
Your plan may include a period of observation and careful monitoring. It may involve coordination with surgeons or radiation oncology specialists. However in some patients treatment may require medication - which is the role of the medical oncologist to choose in consultation with you. These medications may include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, which is designed around the different abnormal proteins or genes in your cancer, immunotherapy, which stimulates your own system to fight the cancer, or hormone therapy,