Interventional oncology has quietly become one of the most transformative forces in modern cancer medicine. Using needles, catheters and real-time imaging, interventional radiologists can destroy tumors with heat, cut off their blood supply, deliver chemotherapy directly into a liver, or biopsy deep lesions through incisions barely larger than a pinhole. These minimally invasive, image-guided procedures can be curative, palliative or supportive, and they increasingly challenge conventional approaches such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy by offering targeted, organ-preserving treatment with faster recovery and fewer complications. Yet according to a new study from a German medical school, the physicians of tomorrow barely know this field exists. The research, published in CVIR Oncology, surveyed fifth-year medical students and found that while virtually all of them had heard of interventional radiology, their grasp of what the specialty actually does, particularly in cancer care, was strikingly thin.
The study, conducted by Laureen Fröhlich and Andreas H. Mahnken at Marburg University, distributed an anonymous 47-item online questionnaire to 300 fifth-year medical students taking regular radiology courses across two academic terms, between winter 2023 and summer 2024. Eighty-five students completed the survey, a response rate of 28.3 percent, with 67 percent female participants and a mean age of 24.9 years. The questionnaire, based on previously published survey instruments, covered demographic data, students’ knowledge of interventional radiology compared with other disciplines, their familiarity with specific procedures including oncologic, vascular and non-vascular interventions, and their understanding of the specialty’s clinical role. Students completed the survey without any prior teaching intervention, providing a genuine baseline of what five years of medical school had taught them. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee.
The headline finding is a paradox of awareness without understanding. Every single participant, 100 percent, knew that interventional radiology exists alongside diagnostic radiology. But only 36.5 percent had any prior exposure to the field during their studies, and 67.1 percent rated their own knowledge of it as poor. Not a single student rated their knowledge as excellent, and only 4.7 percent considered it good. The gap between perceived and actual understanding was particularly revealing: 63.5 percent of students claimed to know which diseases interventional radiology could treat, and 58.8 percent said they were aware of the available procedures, yet when tested objectively on specific interventions, their performance collapsed. Only about a third, 35.7 percent, felt they knew when a patient should even be referred to the specialty.
The procedural knowledge test laid bare the blind spot. Students were presented with twelve exemplary interventional radiology procedures and correctly assigned only seven of them to the field. Vascular interventions fared well: 96.5 percent correctly identified arterial revascularization as an interventional radiology procedure, followed by percutaneous angioplasty at 92.9 percent, endovascular aortic repair at 88.2 percent, treatment of arterial bleeding at 84.5 percent and inferior vena cava filter implantation at 76.2 percent. But the oncologic procedures, the very heart of interventional oncology, were recognized far less often. Venous access port implantation for chemotherapy was correctly assigned by only 54.1 percent of students and hepatic artery infusion chemotherapy by 50.6 percent. Fewer than half correctly identified thermal ablation of renal tumors at 48.8 percent, hepatic tumor ablation at 43.5 percent or image-guided lung biopsy at 42.4 percent. Non-vascular procedures fared worst of all, with vertebroplasty recognized by a mere 20 percent of respondents.
The confusion extended beyond ignorance to outright misattribution. Of the five non-interventional-radiology procedures included as distractors, the majority of students failed to correctly exclude any of them. Removal of adrenal tumors and radiation therapy for bone metastases were correctly recognized as outside the field by only 45.8 percent and 42.4 percent of students respectively, while local treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and proton therapy for pancreatic tumors were correctly flagged by just 37.6 percent and 35.3 percent. In other words, many future physicians cannot reliably distinguish what interventional radiologists do from what surgeons, radiation oncologists or nuclear medicine specialists do, a deficit with real clinical consequences, since referring physicians who misunderstand a specialty’s therapeutic potential may delay or miss referrals and exclude minimally invasive, organ-sparing options from multidisciplinary treatment planning.
Students’ picture of the specialty’s clinical structure was similarly incomplete. On the positive side, 97.6 percent recognized that interventional radiology treats patients with serious illnesses, and around 96 percent acknowledged that it performs potentially life-saving interventions. But when asked about the organizational reality of modern practice, understanding wavered: 69 percent assumed interventional radiology departments run their own outpatient clinics, 65.5 percent believed they admit patients independently, and 64.3 percent thought they conduct ward rounds, while only 41.7 percent knew such departments may have their own inpatient beds. These structures are increasingly common as the specialty evolves from a procedural referral service into a fully clinical discipline responsible for the entire patient pathway, from initial consultation through admission, inpatient care, discharge and follow-up.
The career implications may be the most consequential finding of all. Although 70.6 percent of students expressed interest in interventional radiology, and 61.2 percent wanted to learn more about it, radiology as a career was decisively rejected. Not one student said they would definitely consider it, only 5.9 percent said rather yes, and 78.8 percent ruled it out as rather not or definitely not an option. The most cited reason, given by 57.6 percent, was too little patient contact, followed by too much work on the computer at 51.8 percent and simple lack of interest at 50.6 percent. The authors note that this perception of radiologists as isolated, screen-bound technicians is a widespread stereotype, reinforced by low exposure during training and by the shortage of interventional radiology-managed inpatient beds that limits bedside teaching. A European survey by the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe’s Trainee Forum found the same trend, with limited patient interaction the most cited deterrent.
This recruitment crisis arrives at precisely the wrong moment. Cancer remains one of the foremost causes of death worldwide, with 19.3 million new cases and nearly 10 million cancer-related deaths in 2020, and the global burden is projected to rise by 47 percent to approximately 28.4 million new cases annually by 2040. Meanwhile, a shortfall of around 10 million healthcare workers is anticipated by 2030, and shortages of clinical radiologists and interventional radiology specialists, worsened by aging, retirement and burnout, are particularly alarming because these specialties are critical for cancer diagnosis, staging and minimally invasive treatment. Crucially, unlike vascular interventions, which are often performed by other disciplines, interventional oncology procedures are carried out exclusively by interventional radiologists, meaning a shortage of incoming talent could directly limit the quality and accessibility of minimally invasive cancer therapy for years to come.
Part of the problem is structural. In the United States, interventional radiology has been recognized as a primary medical specialty since 2012, and the Integrated Interventional Radiology Residency introduced in 2016 established a structured six-year training pathway reflecting the discipline’s full clinical scope. In Europe, no standardized framework exists: in most countries, including Germany, interventional radiology holds no official subspecialty status and is instead embedded within radiology. It is entirely absent from Germany’s official national undergraduate medical curriculum. CIRSE has developed curricula, including an Interventional Radiology Curriculum for Medical Students that treats interventional oncology as a core area, but implementation of these non-mandatory frameworks remains inconsistent and dependent on local initiative. The result, the authors argue, is a self-perpetuating cycle in which invisibility in the curriculum breeds ignorance among students, ignorance deters career interest, and dwindling recruitment deepens the workforce shortage that keeps the specialty too stretched to teach.
Breaking that cycle, the researchers conclude, requires action on several fronts: establishing formal structural recognition of interventional radiology as a specialty or subspecialty, integrating it and interventional oncology into mandatory undergraduate modules, expanding teaching formats from lectures and symposia to bedside teaching and interdisciplinary case discussions, actively promoting the field as the clinical, patient-facing discipline it has become, and harmonizing training standards across Europe. The evidence suggests even modest interventions work, as short lectures and targeted teaching have been shown to improve student knowledge and career consideration. The authors acknowledge limitations, including the single-institution design, the 28.3 percent response rate that may have attracted students already interested in the field, and the use of predefined answer options that may have shaped responses about career objections. Still, the message is difficult to ignore: a field capable of burning away tumors through a pinhole cannot afford to remain, in the minds of the physicians who will soon refer patients to it, out of sight and out of mind.
Subject of Research: Medical students’ knowledge and awareness of interventional oncology and interventional radiology in undergraduate medical education
Article Title: Out of sight, out of mind: interventional oncology’s underrepresentation in undergraduate medical education
Article References: Fröhlich, L., & Mahnken, A. H. (2025). Out of sight, out of mind: interventional oncology’s underrepresentation in undergraduate medical education. CVIR Oncology, 1(1), Article 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44343-025-00020-4
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s44343-025-00020-4
Keywords: interventional radiology, interventional oncology, medical education, undergraduate curriculum, cancer treatment, tumor ablation, medical students, workforce shortage, radiology career, Germany, survey study, minimally invasive therapy
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Nathaniel Bowman. (October 2, 2026). Medical Students Know Little About the Cancer Treatments Saving Lives, Survey Finds. Scienmag. https://scienmag.com/medical-students-know-little-about-the-cancer-treatments-saving-lives-survey-finds/
Nathaniel Bowman. “Medical Students Know Little About the Cancer Treatments Saving Lives, Survey Finds.” Scienmag, 2 October 2026, https://scienmag.com/medical-students-know-little-about-the-cancer-treatments-saving-lives-survey-finds/. Accessed 2 October 2026.
Nathaniel Bowman. “Medical Students Know Little About the Cancer Treatments Saving Lives, Survey Finds.” Scienmag. October 2, 2026. https://scienmag.com/medical-students-know-little-about-the-cancer-treatments-saving-lives-survey-finds/
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