Palliative oncology is cancer care focused on relieving symptoms and stress related to cancer and its treatment. It is used alongside oncology treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, or targeted therapy. It aims to improve quality of life for patients and support families and caregivers. It is commonly provided in hospitals, outpatient cancer centers, and sometimes at home-based or hospice programs.

Supportive oncology is care that prevents and treats the symptoms and side effects of cancer and its treatments. It focuses on comfort, function, and quality of life alongside tumor-directed care. It is used in hospitals, outpatient cancer centers, infusion units, radiation clinics, and survivorship programs. It can be involved at any time from diagnosis through treatment and follow-up.

Best supportive care is a structured approach to preventing and relieving symptoms and stress related to cancer and its treatment. It focuses on comfort, function, and quality of life while aligning care with a person’s goals and values. It is used across the cancer journey, from diagnosis through treatment, survivorship, and end-of-life care. It is delivered by oncology teams and often includes palliative care specialists, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and rehabilitation clinicians.

A Restaging scan is imaging done to reassess the extent of cancer after a known diagnosis. It is commonly used during or after treatment to see whether cancer has responded, stayed stable, or progressed. It helps clinicians compare current findings with earlier scans and clinical information. It is used across medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, and hematology-oncology.

Baseline imaging is the first set of medical scans done around the time a cancer is diagnosed or before treatment starts. It creates a “starting point” picture of where disease is and how large it appears. It is commonly used in oncology clinics, hospitals, and radiation therapy planning services. It helps clinicians compare future scans to see whether cancer is responding or changing.

The Charlson comorbidity index is a scoring system that summarizes a person’s other medical conditions into a single number. It helps clinicians and researchers describe overall health burden (“comorbidity”) alongside a cancer diagnosis. It is commonly used in oncology clinics, hospitals, and cancer research to estimate health risks and support planning. It does not diagnose cancer or replace cancer staging, but it can add important context.

A Comorbidity index is a structured way to summarize a person’s other health conditions alongside cancer. It turns multiple diagnoses (such as diabetes or heart disease) into a single score or category. Oncology teams use it to support risk assessment, treatment planning, and clear communication. Researchers also use it to compare outcomes across patient groups more fairly.

Frailty assessment is a structured way to measure a person’s overall physiologic reserve and vulnerability to stress. It looks beyond age and diagnoses to understand function, nutrition, cognition, mood, and social supports. In oncology, it is commonly used before cancer treatment to help tailor care to the individual. It may be done in clinics, hospitals, and pre-operative or chemotherapy planning settings.

Karnofsky performance status is a standardized scale that describes how well a person can carry out everyday activities. It is commonly used in oncology to summarize functional ability on a 0–100 scale. Clinicians use it to support treatment planning, symptom management, and communication across care teams.

ECOG performance status is a clinical scale that describes how well a person can carry out everyday activities. It helps oncology teams summarize overall functioning using a small set of standardized categories. It is commonly used in cancer clinics, hospital oncology services, and clinical trials. It supports shared understanding when planning treatment and supportive care.