Acute Oncology (AO) refers to the management of the unexpected care needs of a patient with cancer, including emergency situations and an acutely unwell patient. If you are a patient and are concerned If you are a patient and you are concerned about symptoms,  please contact your GP, Oncologist or Specialist Nurse.

Acute oncology clinical guidelines

GM Cancer AO pathway board have been involved in the development of the UKONs guidelines and have agreed to endorse these as the clinical guidelines for GM Cancer’s AO service. (links and documents can be found in the “Guidelines” section of the library above).

Please note: The information contained in these guidelines are based on the UKONS clinical guidelines and provide a consensus on the management of oncological complications. Clinicians using these documents are expected to use independent clinical judgment in the context of the presenting clinical circumstances to determine any patient’s care or treatment.

These are guidelines only and local policies should be followed in the management of patients; these guidelines can however be used as a basis for the development of local policy.

MSCC Guidelines

Documents and links can be found in the “Guidelines” section of the document library above.

People with cancer are at risk of this spreading to other parts of their body, including the spine.  Spinal metastases can be painful and if not treated can lead to metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) – this is when the spinal metastases press on the nerves in the spine. MSCC is rare, but it can cause damage to the spinal cord and can lead to permanent paralysis and requires urgent diagnosis and treatment (NICE 2008).

If you are a patient and you are concerned about symptoms suggesting Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression please see your GP, Oncologist or Specialist Nurse urgently.

If you are a clinician, contact the MSCC Co-ordinating Service, also urgently, based at The Christie.