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Oncology Services

Public Service

Our service is part of the Regional Cancer and Blood Service at Auckland District Health Board.  Our teams are specialists in providing care in haematology, medical oncology and radiation oncology. We are here to ensure that you get the best care with the best possible outcome for you and your whānau. This video is here to introduce all of our services to you.

 

What is Oncology?
Oncology is the area of medicine to do with treatment of cancer. Many different specialties manage cancer treatment. Surgery (Surgical Oncology) uses operations to diagnose cancer and treat it by removing it from people's bodies. Medical Oncology uses medicines or drugs  to treat solid tumours such as cancer of breast, bowel, and lung. Radiation Oncology uses radiation, mostly from powerful x-ray machines, to treat tumours. Haematology (Haemato-Oncology) treats tumours of blood such as leukaemia and lymphoma. Palliative Care uses medicines to control the symptoms of cancer to alleviate any suffering.

All these specialties work closely together at the Regional Cancer and Blood Service or they are part of ADHB. Sometimes cancer treatment may involve more than one specialty team depending on your type of cancer and its extent. Much cancer can be cured nowadays or controlled, but because there is still a long way to go, we are also involved with Clinical Trials research in search of better ways of treatment. We work closely with organisations such as the Cancer Society to ensure that people who come to our service have access to information and community support services.

The staff of the Oncology Service includes specialist doctors, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, physicists, psychologists, clerical staff and social workers. We know that cancer's impact on peoples' lives is often more than just physical. As a teaching hospital, we also have the next generation of professionals in training. There is always supervision from experienced staff.

What is Cancer? 
The human body is made of millions of cells which normally grow, divide and are renewed in a controlled way. Sometimes this control is lost, and the cells keep growing. A solid group of these cells is called a tumour or "growth".

Tumours can be benign (grows in one place but does not travel to different parts of the body) or malignant (invades locally and travels to different parts of the body). Malignant tumour cells may travel through the lymphatic system (the body’s drainage system) to lymph nodes or through blood to other parts of the body. These cells can then multiply to make secondary growths.  If this happens the cancer is called metastatic.

Cancer is not contagious, it cannot spread to family or friends. Sometimes, however, people can share the causes of cancer, such as smoking or genetic risks.

Services provided Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of medicines to kill or reduce the spread of cancer cells. Chemotherapy is given as cycles and may be given once a day, once a week or even once a month. This depends on the type of cancer and the best regimen (course) as determined by research. Chemotherapy, unlike radiation (which treats only the part of the body exposed to the radiation), treats the entire body. As a result, any cells that may have escaped from where the cancer originated are treated.

A doctor who prescribes chemotherapy is known as a medical oncologist.

Depending on what type of cancer you have and whether it has spread, your doctor may use chemotherapy to:

  • Eliminate all cancer cells in your body, even when cancer is widespread
  • Prolong your life by controlling cancer growth and spread or
  • Relieve symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Most chemotherapy drugs are given in one of the following ways:

  • You might take a tablet or medicine orally (swallow)
  • It may be given intravenously as an injection over a short period of time or as an infusion over a longer period of time. For these treatments you come into the Department usually for part of the day.
Side effects

Some people have no side effects at all from chemotherapy. Sometimes, however, chemotherapy will make you feel sick. As each type of chemotherapy has different side effects they will be discussed with you prior to starting any treatment so you know what to expect. Chemotherapy targets cells that are quickly dividing, whether it's a cancer cell or not. Therefore, some non-cancer cells that divide quickly are also damaged. The following is a list of some normal cells that divide quickly in the body and may be susceptible to the effects of chemotherapy:

  • Cells in your hair (can cause hair loss)
  • Cells of the skin and mouth (can cause sores in your mouth and dry skin)
  • Cells in your stomach and intestines (can cause you to feel sick, vomit or have diarrhoea)
  • Cells in your bone marrow. This is where your red and white blood cells are made. White blood cells fight infections, so temporarily you are very prone to these and they can become serious. Loss of red blood cells can make you anaemic and tired.

There are many medicines you can take to reduce or lessen these unwanted effects of chemotherapy.

In some cases, chemotherapy may be the only treatment you need. More often, it's used in conjunction with other treatments, such as surgery or radiation, to improve results. For example, you may receive:

  • Neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The goal of neoadjuvant therapy is to reduce the size of a tumour with chemotherapy before surgery or radiation therapy.
  • Adjuvant chemotherapy. Given after surgery or radiation, the goal of adjuvant chemotherapy is to eliminate any cancer cells that might linger in your body following earlier treatments.
Alternative Treatments It is very common for people with cancer to want to try other non-medical treatments such as diet or alternative/complementary medicines offered by other practitioners.  It is helpful for your oncology team to know what other therapies you might be taking as sometimes there can be interactions with their treatment.
Contact

Auckland City Hospital

Street address

Regional Cancer and Blood Service
Buildings 7 and 8, Auckland City Hospital
2 Park Road, Grafton
Auckland 1023

Postal address

Regional Cancer and Blood Service Private Bag 92024 Auckland Mail Centre Auckland 1142

Phone: (09) 367 0000





The information on this page has been provided by healthpoint.co.nz, helping people better understand and use New Zealand health services.