The number of patients treated with radiotherapy in Poland has increased during the 12 years of operation of the National Program for Combating Cancer Diseases from 35 to 80 thousand. annually – it was announced during the Friday press conference at the Oncology Center in Gliwice.
The number of centers offering this method of treatment has also increased – from a dozen to 33. “11 of them – public, multidisciplinary centers – treat 75% of patients with radiation. sick “- emphasized the director of the Oncology Center, prof. Bogusław Maciejewski.
The XNUMXst European Symposium on Oncological Radiotherapy takes place in the Gliwice center on Friday and Saturday, with the participation of outstanding specialists from renowned American and German centers in Dallas, Houston, Berlin, Dresden and Heidelberg.
As highlighted at the conference, in the last two decades, the field of oncological radiotherapy has made tremendous progress – tumors can be irradiated more precisely, so that higher doses of radiation can be used with less risk of damaging healthy tissues. “Thanks to technological progress, we are now able to heal cancer variants for which it was not possible before” – emphasized prof. Hak Choy of Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Although we use higher doses of radiation, we manage to maintain a better quality of life for patients than years ago – added Prof. Andrew Lee of Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The progress that has been made in this area over the last 20 years can be illustrated by a comparison in the field of automotive – it’s like Warsaw and Ferrari. First of all, we know more about the molecular biology of cancer, which allows better treatment planning – said Prof. Maciejewski.
Both American specialists emphasized the great importance of preventive examinations, enabling early detection of neoplasms, which translates into better prognosis for the patient and lower treatment costs. “This is a key problem all over the world – how to encourage people to use such research” – emphasized prof. Choy. (PAP)