KYIV– Cancer in all its forms continues to be one of the most persistent health problems throughout the world. However, the dedication of one noted oncologist led the way to establishment of a unique facility that has in less than four years developed a worldwide reputation for excellence in cancer treatment and therapy.

Located in the suburban village of Kapitanovka in Ukraine’s Kyiv region, the Spizhenko Cyber Clinic (SCC), pioneered by the late Dr. Yuri Spizhenko, academician and oncologist, continues expanding and innovating under leadership of Spizhenko family members who revere the work of the founder and are determined to continue treating cancer patients from Ukraine and beyond with the most advanced proven technologies.

Today, the SCC is led by Natalia Spizhenko, daughter of the founder and a highly qualified specialist physician in her own right. She and other family members not only supervise and participate in clinic operations, they work to assure the further acquisition and perfection of technologies and protocols that assure SCC’s place in the forefront of cancer interventions.

After years of planning and coordination with world leaders in oncology and radiosurgery, in 2009 SCC became the first clinic in Eastern Europe to utilize the
state-of-the-art robotic CyberKnife system with the innovative linear accelerator Elekta Synergy Platform complex equal to the leading medical institutions in the United States and Europe.

Use of the CyberKnife offers patients new hope through painless, non-surgical options for those in the early stages of cancer. Dr. Natalia Spizhenko pointed out that not only will SCC periodically upgrade its CyberKnife facilities but will continue close coordination with the centers of oncological research to assure that SCC is able to keep abreast of other innovations as they become available. “My father always wanted to provide the best possible treatment and therapy for patients and that will always remain our goal.

 “We believe the CyberKnife represents the future for improvement of human health and that eventually most surgery will be performed in this manner. For people not familiar with the technology, it is usually astonishing to realize that with the CyberKnife system the only thing that enters the body is an extremely small shaft of laser light that is able to kill most early stage tumors with no blood and no physically invasive procedures. We are very proud to be on the cutting edge of this 21st century technology and are doing everything to stay in that position,” Natalia Spizhenko said.

SPIZHENKO CYBER CLINIC ASSISTED BY EUROPEAN RADIOSURGERY PIONEERS

During the formative period that led to the establishment of SCC, Dr. Yuri Spizhenko was in constant touch with the world’s top specialists in order to assure that the process led to the best possible result.

When SCC was completed and became operational, Professor John Adler, the world famous neurosurgeon who founded CyberKnife described the SCC as the most dynamically growing oncological institution in the world.

Today SCC remains the only accredited representative of the CyberKnife Society among the oncological centers of Eastern Europe. This allows SCC specialists 24-hour online consultation with colleagues from 26 clinics in the United States. Moreover, SCC physicians aggressively engage in ongoing education and training on the latest technological advances by participating in over 30 international scientific conferences each year.

SCC also has reached an “Agreement on friendship and cooperation” with the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, considered Europe’s top cancer institution. Its director is one of the most known physicians-oncologists in Europe, the legendary Dr. Umberto Veronesi, who was in charge for several periods of the Ministry of Health in Italy. This partnership agreement allows both sides to exchange experience and scientific knowledge.

TOP SPECIALISTS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS TECHNOLOGIES

The SCC was founded based on bringing to the Ukraine the most advanced technologies for cancer treatment and therapy. However, the founder and the Spizhenko family members who guide the SCC today have always proceeded on the basis that technologies are only as good as the specialists who utilize them. Thus, the SCC has built staffs of specialists in radiosurgery and other fields that are unparalleled in Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

One of the major contributors to the success of SCC has been Vladislav M. Buryk, Ph.D., the clinic’s chief of neurosurgery and author of 14 scientific publications including two books.

Buryk says that SCC represents a major breakthrough in radiology in a country where previously the field was far out of date with no tools like the CyberKnife.

“In the beginning our efforts concentrated on cancers of the brain and spine. More recently we have broadened our capabilities to include world standard treatment for lungs, liver and kidney cancers. Further, we are the only clinic in Ukraine offering treatment and therapy for extra-cranial pathologies,” Buryk said.

The neurosurgeon also emphasized the importance that SCC places on continuing education and training for all its specialists. “Every year our radiologists study in the United States,” Buryk added, pointing out that he is scheduled to spend a month in a top U.S. cancer center later this year in order to assure his own skills remain up-to-date with the latest improvements in procedures.

Asked about changes since the 1990s that saw thousands of Ukrainian physicians and other medical specialists migrating to Europe and other parts of the world, Buryk said, “The ‘brain-drain’ has slowed. Now European countries, particularly Poland and the Czech Republic have greater problems than Ukraine. Moreover, we see the interesting situation in which many Ukrainian physicians that left earlier are now returning to the country.”

Buryk also pointed out another peculiar situation that he finds worrying. “The anti-smoking campaigns have had some effect. Although we see fewer men smoking, an alarming number of women are still smoking. More women are being treated for lung cancer and it is becoming one of the country’s main health problems.”

Pointing to another major challenge, Buryk added, “The level of medical education is slowly improving in Ukraine. However, more money is needed for all parts of the health care system including improvements in medical education.

“Medical reform is important,” Buryk said, but he emphasized that “Ukraine’s main problem is the low salaries for public sector doctors.”

SCC LOOKS TOWARD THE FUTURE

While Dr. Natalia Spizhenko and other physicians and radiologists play key roles in SCC’s operations, other family members play essential non-medical roles in the clinic’s leadership.

Oleg Zakorchemniy, the SCC’s general counsel, who is also the husband of the SCC’s director, said that the clinic is working to deal more effectively with the reality that Ukraine has 167,000 new cancer cases per year. “We hope to make a major impact on the reality that cancer kills more Ukrainians than any other except cardiological problems,” he said.

“Our founder knew and understood this. His main motivation in building the clinic was to fight against cancer. He always told us that the conflict was between good doctors and poor technologies, a gap that he understood and was determined to fill. We as a team continue to work to accomplish the goals he set.

“Dr. Yuri Spizhenko saw SCC not just as a business operation and center for treatment of patients, but as his contribution to the development of Ukraine. That is why he decreed that our charges to patients should be kept as low as possible. We have followed his leadership so that today our charges are three or four times less than those in Europe and other regions of the world.

“Our founder’s goal was to provide every Ukrainian physician who wanted practical experience with the use of such advanced technologies to have the opportunity. Through this approach it has been possible to train Ukrainian doctors in radiosurgery that in just three years has expanded to include 70% of all cancer types.

 “For example in 2012 we introduced treatment for eye cancer. Previously patients who had eye cancer treatment were almost certain to become blind. With the new type of CyberKnife treatment, we can save the patient’s sight. We have already treated eye cancer patients from Ukraine, Russia and European countries and just recently performed eye surgery on two patients of Ukraine’s National Center for Eye Microsurgery. This is an example of how SCC’s collaborates with other institutions to improve the lives of cancer patients.

“In addition to radiosurgery, in 2012 SCC also introduced radiotherapy. The combination of radiosurgery and radiotherapy allows destruction of 99.9% of tumors when we are able to begin treatment in the first or second stage. In three years, we have treated 11,000 patients from 30 countries and we constantly seek to provide the highest quality of treatment.

“Unfortunately, one of the greatest problems is that often patients are referred to us only the cancer has reached its last stages. We regretfully turn down many patients simply because we refuse to attempt to treat patients that we know we cannot help.

“Doctors and patients need to understand that the earlier we see a cancer patient the better the chance for a positive outcome. We cannot overemphasize that early screening and discovery of any cancer problem is the key!”

LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE

Another key member of the SCC team is Alexander Spizhenko, the clinic’s director of business development, who is responsible for among other things new facility development. He is proud to show visitors SCC’s newest building that will soon house facilities for normal surgical cancer interventions.

“We expect that SCC will continue to constantly upgrade its capacities for non-invasive radiosurgery and radiotherapy. That has been and we expect it to be our strong point. However, in order to broaden the scope of our abilities, we will in the near-term future furnish, outfit and staff a state-of-the art operation for standard forms of cancer intervention. When this is complete and operational, the SCC will be able to provide the full range of cancer interventions, no matter what stage the patient’s cancer has reached when we get the referral,” Alexander Spizhenko said.

Photography and editorial assistance by Andrey Davis
LINK: http://www.ukrainebusiness.com.ua/news/9822.html

USUBC NOTE: Cyber Clinic of Spizhenko is a member of U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC). Website: http://www.usubc.org  
               LINK: http://cyberclinika.com/clinic-of-spizhenko-en.html