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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.

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.