Does an oncology referral mean cancer?

[Hotseatpants]

My mum (in her eighties) spent a couple of days in hospital last week after passing blood in her urine. She was found to have a kidney stone. She is having a cystoscopy this week. She also has constant diarrhoea.

She has a referral to oncology at a different (more local) hospital. Does this mean she is likely to have cancer, she has not been told anyone other than she has a kidney stone? They are very vague about treatment.

It means they suspect she has cancer and they want her to see a cancer specialist who will either rule it out or confirm that she has got cancer and come up with a treatment plan for her.

Here's hoping for the best x

It would be for cancer investigations yes, but they may be ruling out a cancer growth as they won't usually know for certain until they do a biopsy (study a bit of the thing that looks suspicious, and see if it's cancerous).

From what I know from experience with a close relative, it is likely. However, it could be to rule out the possibility of a malignant tumour.

My relative was diagnosed with a kidney stone months earlier, but it wasn't investigated. A medical person treating something different made an urgent referral.

I hope it turns out to be not cancer for your DM. A very worrying time for you. Hugs.

Thanks all for that information and your kind messages. We will wait and see!

No, at this stage it just means further tests are needed. It’s similar to having a referral to an oncology gynaecologist for a positive smear test with abnormal cells found. It doesn’t mean cancer has been found, rather further tests are needed to rule cancer out.

Thanks @over50andfab

It's more a referral for possible cancer investigations, not that it's definitely cancer. Fingers crossed everything's ok x