Analysis of the status of radiotherapy care provided to the population of Ukraine. Part 1. Analyzing morbidity and technical supply of radiation therapy in Ukraine

Abstract

Background. Radiation therapy is an essential in the complex of modern cancer care methods, since it is needed by more than half of cancer patients worldwide. However, each year more than 2 million people from low-income countries are unable to access modern radiotherapy technologies [1]. Thus, the urgent task in the field of radiation oncology is to increase the availability, quality and efficiency of radiotherapy, monitoring the level of technical, methodological and human resourcing of radiation therapy in Ukraine in accordance with trends in Europe and the world. The actual task of the study is to review and analyze the existing level, availability and effectiveness of applying the modern technologies of radiation therapy in the regions of Ukraine. Purpose – analyzing the current state and level of availability of radiotherapy in Ukraine, seeking for opportunities to expand applying it. Materials and methods. Analyzing and comparing statistical data of the National Cancer Registry of Ukraine and the information of IARC GLOBOCAN, IAEA DIRAC Database, summarizing the results. Results. The level of technical and technological equipment as well as staffing of oncology centers of Ukraine has been analyzed, along with assessing quantitative and qualitative components of radiotherapy care in comparison with the average European indicators. The assessment of the state of radiotherapy care in Ukraine was carried out with due regard for the increasing number of patients. Conclusions. According to the WHO, the structure of cancer incidence in Ukraine is similar to the European one, however higher specific mortality rate indicates, first of all, the insufficient level of covering the population of Ukraine by specialized diagnosis and oncological care, its low efficiency and engineering backwardness. It has been determined that radiation therapy in Ukraine is needed annually by at least 90 thousand cancer patients. In fact, only about 44 thousand of them are provided with tele-radiation therapy. First of all, this is due to extremely insufficient radiotherapy equipment available in Ukraine and using outdated radiation treatment technologies in gamma-ray teletherapy that result in its low quality and aggravating the clinical consequences. Given the growing number of cancer patients in 2022, Ukraine will need about 160 machines for tele-radiotherapy. The rise and adjusting the clinical and technical capabilities of regional oncology centers in terms of quality and efficiency of radiation therapy is possible under the conditions of their rapid technical.

Keywords

• radiotherapy; quality, efficiency, technical re-equipment, staff training.