2010 European Society of Medical Oncology Annual Meeting

Interview with Alexander Fedenko - N. N. Blokhin Cancer Research Centre, Moscow

The East European Sarcoma Group

Russian to English Translation

Question: What are you talking about at ESMO 2010?

Tomorrow there will be a report about the state of medical care for patients with soft tissue sarcoma in Russia and also a presentationby the East European Sarcoma Group.

This Group was created two years ago with

the purpose of improving the quality of medical care for patients in Russia and

also in ex-Soviet states.

Question: What resources do you have available to deal with sarcomas?

Within the East European Sarcoma Group, we have opened seven medical centres in Russia, dedicated specifically to this category of patients. Pathologists, chemotherapists, orthopaedic oncologists and radiotherapists

working in these centres are dealing

specifically with sarcoma patients.

Question: What issues do you face when treating soft issue sarcomas in Russia?

There are difficulties, of course...It's a very narrow specialisation and there is a limited number of patients. And... we are trying to use the most reliable and most up-to-date know-how and techniques, both from Europe and from the United States.

Question: What work does the East European Sarcoma Group carry out?

East European Sarcoma Group is a non-commercial organisation, created with

the participation of the main medical specialists involved in the treatment of the

sarcoma patients. These specialists include surgeons, chemotherapists and radiotherapists who deal exclusively with sarcomas. The main task of the East European Sarcoma Group is improving the quality of medical help offered to this category of patients, who are mostly young and socially important people. And with enough effort and the correct approach, we can significantly improve the survival rate and the quality of life for these patients.