Abstract: This article recounts the development of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and explores the role of its members in defining oncology's boundaries-boundaries dictated by scientific innovations, major changes in the structure of medical specialization, and the competing efforts of closely related professional groups.

Oral histories, journal articles, and unpublished materials from the ASCO History of Oncology Archive were reviewed to analyze these events closely. In 1972, the American Board of Internal Medicine recognized medical oncology as a subspecialty, creating tensions between oncology and hematology as each discipline defended its identity.

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