Health Care Providers: Hematologists-Oncologists
What Are Hematology and Oncology?
Hematology (hee-muh-TOL-uh-jee) is the medical specialty that treats diseases and problems relating to blood, including blood cells and vessels, lymph nodes, and bone marrow.
Oncology (on-KOL-uh-jee) is the medical specialty that studies and treats cancer.
Hematology-oncology (often called hem-onc) is the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of blood diseases and cancer.
What Are Hematologist-Oncologists?
A hematologist-oncologist is a doctor who specializes in blood diseases, bleeding disorders, and cancers. They’re trained in hematology and oncology.
Why Would Someone Need One?
Hematologist-oncologists diagnose and treat many different conditions, including:
- sickle cell disease
- anemia
- neutropenia
- hemophilia
- hepatocellular carcinoma
- leukemia
- lymphoma
- thalassemia
- thrombocytopenia
What Do Hematologist-Oncologists Do?
They provide treatments such as:
- bone marrow (stem cell) transplant
- blood transfusions
- chemotherapy
- immunotherapy
- proton therapy
- radiation therapy
- surgery
- gene therapy
What Is Their Training?
Hematologist-oncologists who treat kids and teens have training that typically includes:
- 4 years of pre-medical education at a college or university
- 4 years of medical school — a medical degree (MD) or doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) degree
- 3 years of training in an internal medicine residency program
- 3 years of pediatric hematology/oncology training in a fellowship program. A “fellow” is a doctor who had more specialty training after completing medical school and residency training.
They also might have expertise in a specific blood disorder or type of cancer.
Good to Know
Some hematologist-oncologists treat also solid tumors, such as retinoblastoma, melanoma, and Wilms tumor.