Who’s Who on Your Breast Cancer Care Team
A cancer care team brings together doctors, nurses, social workers, and others — all with different training and skillsets — to offer support before, during, and after treatment. If you’ve recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, remembering the titles of all the people involved in your care and what they do can be overwhelming.
“Cancer treatment is a treatment of specialties. Because breast cancer treatment is so complex, it is best to have many team members that know a lot about one aspect of treatment versus knowing a little about the whole treatment plan,” explains Lindsay Vlaminck, RN, a certified nurse navigator and health coach who provides private cancer support at SurvivorRN.
Here are some of the professionals that may be on your core cancer treatment team:
Medical oncologist
A medical oncologist is often the main health care provider during cancer treatment and is sometimes the first person you’ll meet with once you’ve been told you have cancer, depending on the cancer type. Medical oncologists are doctors who specialize in cancer diagnosis and treatment. They usually treat cancer with chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. The roles of a medical oncologist include:
diagnosing cancer and making treatment recommendations
figuring out if treatment is working
directing or coordinating care from other specialists such as surgeons or oncology nurses
Surgical oncologist
Also known as oncology surgeons, surgical oncologists are doctors who have training in surgical procedures to treat cancer, such as lumpectomy and mastectomy. They also can perform a biopsy to diagnose cancer. Depending on the type of cancer you have, you might meet with a surgeon first to go over your treatment plan, rather than a medical oncologist.
Oncology surgeons need to also understand other treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation so they can explain your treatment options to you.
Radiation oncologist
Radiation oncologists are doctors who specialize in radiation therapy to treat cancer. With the help of imaging techniques, such as CT scans and MRIs, radiation oncologists can learn information about a tumor and map out how best to deliver high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. People who receive radiation therapy may also be treated with chemotherapy, surgery, and targeted therapy.
Plastic surgeon
A plastic surgeon is a doctor trained in breast reconstruction and procedures to recreate the appearance of the breast. If you decide to have breast reconstruction after a lumpectomy or mastectomy, your oncology surgeon and plastic surgeon will work together during the operation.
Pathologist
A pathologist is a doctor who specializes in diagnosing cancer by looking at cells and tissues under a microscope. You won’t personally meet with a pathologist, but after they examine your biopsy tissue, they write up a pathology report that describes your diagnosis and may do additional tests on cancer tissue or blood to describe your type of breast cancer. This report typically is sent to your medical oncologist, surgeon, and radiation oncologist so that all treating physicians have access to it at all times.
Oncology nurse or nurse practitioner
Oncology nurses and nurse practitioners are nurses who have extensive knowledge in working with people who are going through treatment for cancer. You might see an oncology nurse working with different people on your cancer care team, such as radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, or in surgery. Oncology nurses and nurse practitioners work together with doctors, and are a critically important member of your care team. They may help you with:
getting ready for and administering chemotherapy treatment
managing side effects of cancer treatments
coordinating care with other members of your care team
providing education on cancer
Oncology social workers tend to have training and expertise in how to support people working through the emotions that may come with a cancer diagnosis. They are also available to help support family members. They can help you navigate the health system and provide resources in the community such as finding support groups, connecting you with financial or transportation assistance, and helping advocate for you when there are barriers to your care — like providing information on family leave and disability benefits.
Rural or community hospitals might have a general social worker for all patients, not just those going through cancer treatments, but can support your needs just the same.
Nurse navigators are registered nurses who coordinate care from all the different specialties and ensure all members of the care team are communicating with one another. Nurse navigators also act as advocates by helping people connect with members of the care team and schedule appointments. According to Vlaminck, some tasks they might help with include:
helping with medical leave paperwork
identifying transportation assistance
fast-tracking important tests to reduce time to treatment
coordinating care by grouping your medical appointments to streamline your care, making sure you're being seen by providers in a timely manner, as well as making sure you’re seeing the correct provider
Nurse navigators are a requirement for hospitals with accredited cancer programs. Some smaller community hospitals or hospitals in rural areas may not have nurse navigators. If there are no nurse navigators where you receive care, an oncology nurse may step in to fill this role.
Others who may be involved in your care
“Cancer treatment is similar to dropping a stone in water — it continues to ripple past the initial disturbance,” says Vlaminck. These professionals can manage symptoms from cancer or its treatments, or provide emotional or financial assistance. Depending on where you live or where you are getting treatment, some of these support professionals might not be available. In those cases, these roles may be filled by others on your team.
Registered dieticians can specialize in working with people living with cancer. They can help you manage side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite from chemotherapy or from the cancer itself. Dieticians can come up with nutritious meal planning, helping you with weight concerns, and working around the changes in taste, smell, and appetite that cancer treatment can bring.
Members of a palliative care team are there to increase your quality of life while you’re going through treatment for cancer. These specialists walk you through your treatment options and help you make medical decisions based on your personal preferences and beliefs. Your team could be made up of doctors, nurses, social workers, and chaplains.
Patient navigators can also help to connect you with resources as you go through treatment. Patient navigators aren’t trained in healthcare, but they may have experienced cancer themselves or have additional training to help navigate the medical system.
Financial navigators can help provide direct assistance with financial costs such as medication co-pays and travel costs. They can help you understand your out-of-pocket costs, what your medical insurance covers, and help you set up payment plans.
What is a multidisciplinary team?
A multidisciplinary team is made up of people with different skills and training. Your breast cancer treatment team brings together their diverse skills to help create the best treatment plan for you. One way they might do this is by gathering on a regular basis — typically weekly — to discuss people with new or complicated diagnoses to collaboratively come up with treatment plans, explains Vlaminck.
Electronic medical records are also a way your care team works together to communicate with one another about testing and treatments. “Providers can send messages through the medical record so everyone on the treatment team can read their recommendations. There is also increased transparency in the medical record now, as provider notes are available to patients through electronic patient portals,” says Vlaminck.
If you’re concerned your team may not be communicating clearly with one another, Vlaminck offers some advice: “As a patient, you might wait on hold or send a message and wait for hours for someone to reply. Nurse navigators hold the cheat code to getting bumped to the top of the list when there is a problem because we work within the medical system.” Share your concerns with your navigator, so they can advocate for you on your behalf. Their goal is to take the burden off you so you can focus on your health.
If you aren’t working with a nurse navigator, find someone on your care team you trust, such as your oncology nurse or nurse practitioner, for help. Oncology nurses tend to have more time than your doctor to talk with you and really listen. Your hospital’s social worker can also help with communicating concerns to your care team.
— Last updated on February 22, 2025 at 9:06 PM