oncologist

American  

[ahng-kahl-uhj-ist] / ɑŋˈkɑl ədʒ ɪst /

noun

1. a physician who specializes in oncology.

---

Explanation

An oncologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating different forms of cancer. Hearing that a friend or family member has to visit an oncologist is never good news. Oncology is the medical treatment of cancer, and an oncologist is someone who has trained to practice oncology. Cancer is a disease that involves the abnormal growth of normal cells into masses, or tumors, and the word oncologist includes the prefix onco-, which is used in medical words to mean "tumor." It stems from the Greek root onkos, or "mass."

Example Sentences

One medical oncologist in South Carolina, for example, took to social media to report that insurance company Humana was denying his lung cancer patient Keytruda.

From Salon • May 15, 2026

Ezekiel J. Emanuel is an oncologist, bioethicist and health-policy expert.

From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026

I obviously did not get the report today that I was hoping for when my oncologist called .

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

All told, it’s still rare, at least for now, for a myeloma patient to refer to themselves as cured or for an oncologist to refer to a myeloma patient that way.

From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026

They brought in a specialist called a radiation oncologist to talk Baba into getting radiation treatment.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini