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Medical specialties

Medical Oncology Diploma

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An evidence-led diploma in medical oncology: how to stage and treat the common solid cancers with chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted drugs, manage toxicity and oncological emergencies safely, and judge what new trials really offer your patients.

Twenty-five weekly sessions across five modules take you from the principles of systemic treatment, acute oncology and supportive care, through breast, lung, gastrointestinal, urological, gynaecological and skin cancers, to palliative care, radiotherapy, brain tumours and clinical trials, taught live by practising specialists you can question.

Course director
To be announced
Format
25 live weekly sessions on Zoom, in 5 modules
Dates
Confirmed when enrolment opens

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Micrograph of breast cancer tissue in which nests of tumour cells are stained brown, set within paler supporting tissue.
Image: breast carcinoma on immunohistochemistry by National Cancer Institute via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Who it is for

Senior trainees, fellows and early-career consultants in medical oncology, and physicians who give or support systemic cancer treatment, worldwide.

The programme

25 one-hour sessions in 5 modules, each with its learning objectives. This is the draft programme: the course director reviews and refines it before enrolment opens, so session titles may change.

Module 1 · Sessions 1 to 5Principles of systemic cancer treatment

  1. 1. Staging, fitness and the intent of treatment

    • Stage common solid tumours using the current TNM classification
    • Assess performance status and fitness for systemic treatment
    • Define and document the intent of treatment with the patient
    • Present a case clearly to the cancer multidisciplinary team

  2. 2. Reading oncology trials and judging benefit

    • Interpret overall survival, progression-free survival and surrogate endpoints
    • Apply response criteria for chemotherapy and immunotherapy, including pseudoprogression
    • Grade the magnitude of clinical benefit of a new treatment with a validated scale
    • Explain to a patient what a trial result means for them

  3. 3. Safe prescribing of chemotherapy and targeted therapy

    • Calculate and adjust doses for organ dysfunction and toxicity
    • Order pre-treatment tests, including dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD) testing before fluoropyrimidines
    • Identify clinically important interactions with oral targeted therapies
    • Take informed consent for systemic anticancer therapy

  4. 4. Immunotherapy and its toxicities

    • Recognise immune-related adverse events across organ systems early
    • Grade toxicity and start steroids or other immunosuppression appropriately
    • Decide when to rechallenge after an immune-related adverse event
    • Work with organ specialists on endocrine, cardiac and neurological toxicity

  5. 5. Molecular oncology and genomic testing

    • Choose the right genomic test and sample for a patient with advanced cancer
    • Rank molecular targets by clinical actionability
    • Recognise when a tumour result suggests an inherited cancer predisposition
    • Use circulating tumour DNA testing appropriately
Module 2 · Sessions 6 to 10Acute oncology and supportive care

  1. 6. Acute oncology and neutropenic sepsis

    • Start empirical antibiotics immediately for suspected neutropenic sepsis
    • Risk-stratify febrile neutropenia for outpatient management
    • Manage hypercalcaemia of malignancy and superior vena cava obstruction
    • Organise care for a patient who presents acutely with a new cancer

  2. 7. Spinal cord compression and bone metastases

    • Recognise early symptoms of spinal cord compression and arrange urgent whole-spine MRI
    • Start initial management and refer for surgery or radiotherapy
    • Prescribe bone-targeted therapy and prevent osteonecrosis of the jaw
    • Protect bone health during hormonal cancer treatments

  3. 8. Supportive care: nausea, thrombosis, nutrition and fatigue

    • Prescribe antiemetics according to the emetogenic risk of the regimen
    • Choose anticoagulation for cancer-associated thrombosis
    • Assess and manage cancer cachexia and nutrition
    • Manage cancer-related fatigue and oral mucositis

  4. 9. Cardio-oncology and organ toxicity

    • Assess baseline cardiovascular risk before cardiotoxic cancer therapy
    • Monitor for and manage cardiac dysfunction during anthracycline and HER2-targeted therapy
    • Recognise checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis as an emergency
    • Manage drug-induced pneumonitis and hepatotoxicity

  5. 10. Older adults, fertility and survivorship

    • Use geriatric assessment to tailor treatment for older adults
    • Discuss fertility preservation before gonadotoxic treatment
    • Plan survivorship care and screen for late effects
    • Communicate prognosis and uncertainty with patients and carers
Module 3 · Sessions 11 to 15Breast, lung and gastrointestinal cancers

  1. 11. Early breast cancer

    • Select patients for neoadjuvant systemic therapy by tumour subtype
    • Plan adjuvant endocrine, CDK4/6 inhibitor and HER2-targeted therapy
    • Use genomic recurrence scores to decide on adjuvant chemotherapy
    • Coordinate systemic treatment with surgery and radiotherapy

  2. 12. Advanced breast cancer

    • Choose first-line treatment for hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer
    • Sequence antibody-drug conjugates and targeted agents by HER2 status, including HER2-low disease
    • Plan treatment for triple-negative and HER2-positive advanced disease
    • Recognise and manage brain metastases from breast cancer

  3. 13. Lung cancer

    • Order biomarker testing for every patient with non-small cell lung cancer
    • Choose perioperative and adjuvant therapy for resectable disease
    • Select first-line treatment for metastatic disease by driver mutation and immunotherapy biomarkers
    • Plan treatment for limited-stage and extensive-stage small cell lung cancer

  4. 14. Colorectal cancer

    • Decide on adjuvant chemotherapy and its duration after resection of colon cancer
    • Test for mismatch repair deficiency and offer immunotherapy where it applies
    • Choose first-line therapy for metastatic disease by RAS, BRAF and tumour sidedness
    • Select patients with liver metastases for surgery or ablation

  5. 15. Upper gastrointestinal, pancreatic and liver cancers

    • Plan perioperative treatment for resectable gastric and oesophageal cancer
    • Choose first-line systemic therapy for advanced gastro-oesophageal cancer by biomarkers
    • Manage pancreatic cancer with attention to fitness, nutrition and symptom control
    • Select systemic therapy for advanced liver and biliary cancers
Module 4 · Sessions 16 to 20Urological, gynaecological, skin and rarer cancers

  1. 16. Prostate cancer

    • Intensify treatment for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer
    • Sequence treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer
    • Order germline and tumour testing to guide targeted treatment
    • Manage the metabolic and bone effects of androgen deprivation

  2. 17. Bladder and kidney cancers

    • Select first-line treatment for advanced urothelial cancer
    • Plan perioperative systemic therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer
    • Choose first-line combination therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma by risk group
    • Decide on adjuvant therapy after nephrectomy

  3. 18. Gynaecological cancers

    • Plan first-line treatment and maintenance therapy in ovarian cancer
    • Use molecular classification to guide adjuvant treatment in endometrial cancer
    • Select immunotherapy for advanced endometrial and cervical cancer
    • Arrange genetic testing for women with ovarian or endometrial cancer

  4. 19. Melanoma and skin cancers

    • Choose adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy for resected high-risk melanoma
    • Select first-line immunotherapy or targeted therapy for advanced melanoma
    • Manage advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma
    • Coordinate care with dermatology and surgery in the skin cancer multidisciplinary team

  5. 20. Rarer cancers: sarcoma, germ cell, head and neck and unknown primary

    • Investigate a patient with suspected cancer of unknown primary efficiently
    • Refer suspected sarcoma to a specialist centre before biopsy
    • Recognise germ cell tumours as curable and start treatment promptly
    • Plan systemic therapy for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer
Module 5 · Sessions 21 to 25Palliative care, practice and new treatments

  1. 21. Palliative care and end of life in oncology

    • Integrate specialist palliative care early in advanced cancer
    • Recognise when systemic treatment is no longer helping and discuss stopping
    • Lead advance care planning conversations
    • Use patient-reported outcome measures in routine care

  2. 22. Radiotherapy and local treatment for the medical oncologist

    • Explain the principles and common toxicities of radiotherapy
    • Select patients for palliative radiotherapy
    • Define oligometastatic disease and select patients for metastasis-directed therapy
    • Combine systemic therapy with radiotherapy safely

  3. 23. Brain tumours and brain metastases

    • Investigate a new brain lesion and refer to the neuro-oncology multidisciplinary team
    • Use molecular markers to guide treatment of adult diffuse glioma
    • Choose between surgery, radiosurgery and systemic therapy for brain metastases
    • Manage seizures, steroids and raised intracranial pressure

  4. 24. Clinical trials, new drugs and access to treatment

    • Explain trial phases and design to a patient considering a trial
    • Assess a patient's eligibility for a clinical trial
    • Describe how new cancer drugs are appraised and funded
    • Identify ways to improve access to effective cancer medicines worldwide

  5. 25. Complex case panel and the cancer multidisciplinary team

    • Apply the course to complex cases in a panel discussion
    • Contribute effectively to multidisciplinary team decisions
    • Audit the outcomes and safety of a systemic anticancer therapy service
    • Build a personal plan for continuing development in medical oncology

What the diploma includes

  • 25 live sessions on Zoom, one evening a week, with recordings for the weeks you miss.
  • Practising specialists teaching live, so you can put your questions to them.
  • Weekly MCQs and a final written assessment.
  • A digital certificate carrying your final classification.

Lead or teach the Medical Oncology Diploma

We are looking for a course director and faculty from the specialty. Sessions are one hour in the UK evening, live on Zoom, and paid.

Apply to teach