Cancer can be treated by means of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and biological therapies. The surgeon performs surgical operations. The radiotherapist carries out the various types of radiotherapy (and the specialist in nuclear medicine handles therapy with radioisotopes). Medical oncologist manages the various medical therapies.
In general, the oncologist also coordinates the work of the surgeon and the radiotherapist, and consults them whenever necessary.
Likewise, the surgeon and the radiotherapist will consult the oncologist whenever necessary. In addition to performing surgery or radiotherapy, the surgeon and the radiotherapist provide indications as to the technical feasibility, methods and times of their procedures. Once having received this information, the oncologist may change the treatment program that was initially planned. Similarly, surgeons and radiotherapists may need to change their plans, too.
In short, the treatment program is worked out by the team of specialists. In technical jargon, the joint management of the case by these three specialists, who may be aided by the interventional radiologist, senologist, pneumologist, etc, is called multidisciplinary treatment.
It is almost universally accepted that the best results are achieved when the therapy is jointly planned by a multidisciplinary team. Nevertheless, there must always be someone who “puts all the pieces together” and explains the treatment plan to the patient. In general, this is done by the medical oncologist, who is the specialist that accompanies the patient throughout the entire course of the disease.
It is very important for the patient to trust the doctor who coordinates the management of the various phases of disease. This trust may sometimes be lost; if this happens, it is better to change the doctor.