If you're told that you have cancer, you'll want to know more about the specialists that will be treating you.

Prostate cancer survivor Malcolm Pearce has a unique and rather simple way of explaining his team of cancer doctors and their treatments that they offer. "The urologist, and he's been trained to cut it out. There's the oncologist and he's been trained to soak it out. And there's the radiologist and he's been trained to nuke it."

Now, "nuking it" sounds a little rough: in reality Radiation Oncologist Dr. Constantine Mantz says radiation treatment is not uncomfortable for the patient. "There is no pain and there is no feeling whatsoever associated with radiation therapy; it's just as though the patient is receiving a typical x-ray."

The soaking it - he's referring to chemotherapy, and physicians are excited about the advancements that have been made in that field. "I think many of the greatest leaps in technology, in improving drugs and making treatments more effective, better tolerated. We've become smarter and better in how to use drugs in chemotherapy," says Mantz.

No matter what kind of treatment you receive or no matter what type of specialist you happen to see, every specialist basically has the same mission in mind. "To treat cancer, effectively, safely, to allow them to live their lives as fully and as usefully and as happily as they could," explains Dr Mantz.

Since few cancers require emergency treatment, take time to learn as much as you can about your diagnosis, as well as your treatment options.

Cancer information specialists are available 24 hours a day at the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 if you would like more information.