Clinical Oncology is the term – used from the late 1980s in the UK – for doctors who had trained in radiotherapy and usually also in general medicine. Although medical oncology subsequently developed as speciality in its own right, around 80% of chemotherapy for solid tumours was administered by clinical oncologists even in the 1990s. Since then the number of medical oncologists has expanded and the multidisciplinary care is expected to be in place for all patients diagnosed with cancer.

There are other specialists involved in treating cancer, in particular surgical oncologists, haematologists and paediatric oncologists.