The citizens of the region should have access to state-of-the-art cancer treatment methods

The state-of-the-art treatment method for different types of cancer, which can be accessible to citizens of the region through hadron cancer therapy with research in biomedicine provided via the project of International Institute for the Sustainable Technologies, should be a priority of the countries of the region. This is one of the conclusions of the second day of the Meeting of radiologists and oncologists of South East Europe, which was organized by the Clinical Centre in cooperation with the Ministry of Science.

The topic of the meeting was the formation of a network of radiologists and oncologists of the region, which is one of the stages in further development of the project of the International Institute. This means that patients will be simultaneously examined by oncologists from different parts of Europe.

Oncologists and radiologists from the region have exchanged experiences, clinical practices and medical protocols in the countries of the region when it comes to combating one of the most dangerous diseases of today, which we have to tackle as there is an evident increase in mortality from malignant diseases in the region, which was confirmed by Director of the Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Todorović.

According to the World Health Organization, the global incidence of malignant diseases grew from 12.7 million in 2008 to 14.1 million in 2012. Men in Montenegro mostly suffer from lung, colon and prostate cancer, while breast, colon, cervix and ovary cancer dominate among women. Therefore, one of the priorities of health policy is the reduction of cancer mortality, which is achieved through intensive cooperation between science and medicine.

The participants have agreed that the implementation of an electronic cancer registry, education, investing in diagnostics and surgery, as well as clinical research, represent a way to finally build this bridge between science and clinical medicine. This is precisely what the project of establishing the International Science Institute would provide for, given that it would be unique in the world as it would envisage that 50 percent of the operating hours are committed to research, with over 1,000 researchers engaged. The difference between hadron therapy and conventional radiation therapy is in much more accurate treatment of cancer cells, a small percentage of side effects, i.e. toxic effects in the long run, and in the fact that hadron therapy is the only method that allows children and pregnant women to be treated.

The Ministry of Science has already prepared several project applications for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has, as previously announced, promised the first half million euros for human resources training, as well as for the EU COST programme in the amount of EUR 300,000 and a regional IPA programme for the implementation of the aforementioned electronic cancer registry in the amount of two million euros.

The conference participants who held presentations were Prof. Dr. Vladimir Todorović, Director of the Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Prof. Mimoza Ristova from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Prim. Dr. Zorica Tomašević, Institute for Oncology and Radiology, Belgrade, Dr. Salmin Salković, Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Dr. Mladen Mitev, Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Dr. Lediu Bregu, Hygeia Hospital Tirana, Albania, Dr. Slavica Marić, Affidea, Banja Luka, Dr. Aleksandar Čelebić, Clinic for Oncology and Radiotherapy of the Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Vlada Kovčin, Onkomed, Belgrade, Serbia, Dr. Nikola Vasev, Director of the University Clinic for Radiotherapy, Skopje, Macedonia, and Dr. Dušanka Tešanović, Institute of Oncology.