- CANCER CARE
Medical Oncology
What is Medical Oncology?
Medical oncology uses medications like chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or other drugs to treat cancer. It can be administered by pill or intravenously, and you may be fitted with a port under your skin to make treatment simpler and safer. Treatments take place in our Infusion Center located at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell.
Chemotherapy is essentially “chemical” therapy that uses medications that treat cancer via one of the three methods:
- Destroying cancer cells after surgery, called adjuvant therapy
- Shrinking a tumor or slowing its growth before surgery, known as neoadjuvant therapy, or
- Reducing the severity of symptoms, called palliative chemotherapy
The kind of cancer, its location, and specific features of the tumor will determine how your doctor designs your treatment plan. Not only will these things affect the medications your doctor uses to treat your cancer, but they will play a role in whether you receive your chemotherapy in pill form, through an IV drip or another route.
