Survivorship clinic: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Survivorship clinic is a healthcare service focused on people who have completed cancer treatment or are living long-term with cancer. It helps monitor for cancer recurrence, manage late effects of treatment, and support overall health after cancer. Survivorship clinics are commonly part of cancer centers, hospitals, and some community oncology programs. Care is often shared with primary care and other specialists depending on needs.

Rapid access clinic: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Rapid access clinic is a healthcare service designed to speed up assessment for a possible serious condition, including cancer. It usually combines early specialist review with streamlined testing and triage. It is commonly used in hospitals or cancer centers as an outpatient pathway for urgent referrals. The goal is to reduce delays between concerning symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment planning.

Multidisciplinary clinic: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Multidisciplinary clinic is a coordinated clinic visit where several cancer specialists evaluate a patient as a team. It brings different perspectives into one plan, rather than separate, unconnected appointments. It is commonly used in cancer centers for diagnosis, staging, treatment planning, and follow-up. It can also support symptom management, rehabilitation, and survivorship care.

Tumor registry: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Tumor registry is an organized system for collecting and managing information about people diagnosed with cancer. It records key details such as the cancer type, stage, treatments, and outcomes over time. Tumor registry data are commonly used in hospitals, cancer centers, and public health programs. The goal is to support cancer care quality, planning, and research using standardized information.

Clinical trials office: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Clinical trials office is the team and workspace that coordinates research studies involving people in a cancer center or hospital. It helps connect eligible patients to clinical trials and supports clinicians in running those studies safely. It is commonly found in academic medical centers, community oncology practices, and specialized cancer institutes. It works alongside oncology clinics, infusion centers, imaging departments, pathology labs, and inpatient units.

Oncology pharmacy: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

Oncology pharmacy is a specialized area of pharmacy focused on medications used to treat cancer and manage treatment-related symptoms. It combines pharmacology (how drugs work) with oncology (the science and care of cancer). It is commonly used in hospitals, infusion centers, outpatient cancer clinics, and specialty pharmacies.

CyberKnife center: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A CyberKnife center is a cancer-care facility that provides CyberKnife treatment, a form of highly precise radiation therapy. It is commonly used for certain tumors in the brain, spine, lung, liver, prostate, and other sites. Care is usually delivered by a radiation oncology team working with imaging and other specialists. Most treatments are performed as outpatient care, meaning patients typically go home the same day.

Gamma knife center: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Gamma knife center is a specialized facility that provides Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for conditions in the brain and nearby structures. It uses precisely focused radiation beams to treat targeted areas without making an incision. It is commonly used in oncology for certain brain tumors and brain metastases. It is also used for some non-cancer conditions that affect the brain and nerves.

Proton therapy center: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Proton therapy center is a specialized radiation oncology facility that delivers cancer treatment using a proton beam. It is commonly used to treat tumors where limiting radiation dose to nearby healthy tissue is an important goal. Care is usually delivered by a multidisciplinary oncology team using advanced imaging and computer-based treatment planning.

Brachytherapy suite: Definition, Uses, and Clinical Overview

A Brachytherapy suite is a specialized clinical area where brachytherapy (internal radiation therapy) is planned and delivered. It is designed to support safe placement of applicators or implants and precise delivery of radiation from inside or very near a tumor. It is most commonly found within a hospital radiation oncology department, sometimes adjacent to an operating room or imaging area.