Theoretical and applied science conference Emergency Abdominal Surgery in Cancer Patients took place in Ternopil State Medical University

Chervona Kalyna, TSMU’s educational and recreational facility, hosted theoretical and applied science conference Emergency abdominal surgery in cancer patients  on September 12th and 13th . The main purpose of the event was to develop a universal strategy of interaction between general surgeons and cancer specialists for emergency surgical care of patients with malignant tumors of the abdominal cavity.

Rector of Ternopil State Medical University, Professor Mykhaylo Korda opened the event. “Today the issue of cancer pathology is a nation-wide problem, affecting health of many Ukrainians. These pathologies hold second place in prevalence and mortality. In the world each year ten million people are diagnosed with cancer, and seven million die from the disease. In the last 20 years the number of cancer patients has increased by 25-45%, depending on tumor location.  According to the World Health Organization, the number of patients in the coming years will increase by 45%. So unfortunately, the incidence of these pathologies increases. Ukraine holds the second place in terms of cancer incidence in Europe. Each year in our country 165 thousand patients get cancer diagnosis and 95,000 people die from the disease. We all know and understand the reasons for this situation: difficult economic conditions, poverty of a large part of the population, the lack of quality diagnostic equipment and treatments. Thus, cancer is poised to reach the first place in the structure of morbidity and mortality in our country. There is a need for cancer hospitals in Ukraine to get access to the latest high-tech diagnostic equipment and employ a sufficient number of qualified professionals. Today most cancer patients are being treated in inpatient wards, which is not an optimal situation. We lack implementation of international standards of care for patients with cancer. And another important issue is the lack of funding for cancer research. This is why professional events and meetings like this one are so important for exchanging new information and findings which will ultimately benefit cancer patients “, – said Mykhaylo Korda.

Head of the Health Department of Ternopil Regional State Administration Volodymyr Bohaychuk greeted Conference attendees on behalf the Chairman of Ternopil Regional State Administration Stepan Barna. He said that one of the priorities of the Health Department is to create a strong regional Oncology center. “We are working to install a linear accelerator as well as other equipment to improve diagnosis of the disease. To this end we are negotiating with Polish colleagues. Also recently we had expressions of interest in collaboration from colleagues from Turkey. We will  do our best in order to improve the quality of cancer care in our region “, – said Volodymyr Bohaychuk.

Director of the National Cancer Institute Olena Kolesnik began the plenary session with report  titled Results of surgical interventions on treatment of cancer patients with acute disorders of gastrointestinal tract.

Director of Kavetskiy Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology, and member of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Vasyl Chekhun presented report Precautions in emergency surgeries of cancer  and clinical effects vaccinotherapy.

The head expert in Oncology of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Olexiy Kovaliov spoke about  cancer surgery in the post-industrial, information, and post-genome era.

Head of the Department of Surgery of Danylo Halytskyi Lviv National Medical University Bohdan Matviychuk in his talk highlighted the problematic aspects of diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer complications.

Taras Fetsych, the Head of Oncology and Medical Radiology Department of Danylo Halytskyi Lviv National Medical University spoke in more detail about fundamentals of treating patients with colon cancer after urgent surgeries.

Conference delegates also heard a report from the Head of the Department of Surgery of Bohomolets National Medical University Obstruction in patients with colon cancer and retroperitoneal tumors.

Chief physician and chief consultant in oncology of Ternopil regional oncology hospital Leonid Shkrobot gave a detailed account of the hospital’s work, problems and achievements of oncology service in Ternopil region.

After lunch, participants continued to work at the second plenary session, attended a poster presentation, and participated in a round table. On the first day of the conference there was also a board meeting of the National Association of oncologists Ukraine, while on September 13th within the framework of the symposium took place a meeting of the expert commission on Oncology of the Ministry of Health and the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.