Oncology

At Mediclinic Middle East, we provide comprehensive, coordinated cancer care across our centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Our multidisciplinary teams work together throughout screening, diagnosis and treatment, with each patient’s case reviewed by a tumour board to develop a personalised treatment plan.

What is oncology?

Oncology is the branch of medicine that deals with cancer, and much of its work comes after treatment. More than 100 diseases sit under that word, and they can start almost anywhere in the body. Breast, bowel and lung are among the most common. If your treatment comes as medicines, that's a medical oncologist's work, and they keep track of the plan. Surgery and radiotherapy have their own specialists. Blood cancers such as leukaemia go to haematology instead.

When should you see an oncologist?

Book an appointment if you notice:

• A lump or swelling anywhere on your body
• Unexplained weight loss
• A cough or a hoarse voice that does not go away
• A change in your bowel habit, or bloating that will not settle
• Unexplained bleeding or bruising
• A mole that changes shape, size or colour

If you are having chemotherapy and develop a high temperature or other signs of infection, contact your cancer care team straight away.

Most symptoms on that list turn out to be something other than cancer, but they're still worth checking. You can also book without any symptoms at all: a screening result that needs a closer look, a strong family history or follow-up once treatment has finished. Your doctor can arrange the appropriate tests to fit your situation.

What to expect

Your first appointment starts with questions: what you've noticed, how long it's been going on, what illnesses run in your family. An examination follows. Most people then have blood tests and a scan, often a CT. If an area looks suspicious, the next step is usually a biopsy, a small sample of tissue examined under a microscope.

What happens next depends on the type of cancer and its stage, how far it has spread. Treatment may mean an operation, radiotherapy or medicines such as chemotherapy. Often it's more than one of these, given in a set order that your specialist talks through with you before anything is agreed. Once treatment ends, check-ups and scans carry on for some years.

Oncology at Mediclinic

Our cancer care sits in two centres, one at Mediclinic City Hospital in Dubai and one at Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital in Abu Dhabi. Oncology clinics also run at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital, and we offer cancer screening packages if you'd like a check without a specific worry. Our medical oncologists give chemotherapy and immunotherapy, among other drug treatments. We plan radiotherapy with imaging.

Our Dubai centre also offers brachytherapy. The same centre publishes a welcome guide and a care pack you can read before treatment starts. Cancer surgery, genetic testing and palliative care are among the services in the same centres. Children have their own paediatric team, and dietitians and psychologists work alongside the medical staff.