Rimvydas promised to live for only a few months, but has been living for 20 years after the diagnosis.

Happy second birthday

As prof. R. Jasinavičius, was diagnosed with an oncological disease completely by accident. In 2001, the man suffered a hypertensive crisis: high blood pressure. While the doctors were looking for why this might have happened, it was noticed that there were changes in one of the kidneys.

Then the changes were found in the liver and then in other parts of the body. On February 2, the man heard the diagnosis: an oncological disease.

“A pretty grim prognosis was said: if we don’t take serious treatment, doctors don’t guarantee a life expectancy of more than 2-3 months,” said R. Jasinavičius.

Doctors of the time decided that surgery was necessary.

“An operation to remove the changes was scheduled for February 9. But the operation did not happen, I got sick with pneumonia, I went to the Santara clinics. Unexpectedly, during the morning visit, the head of the hospital arrived. doctor ”, recalls R. Jasinavičius.

At that time, according to the man, he was immersed in a deep psychological crisis. The incoming doctor realized this and began to reassure the patient, saying that even in such a serious case, the disease can be cured as long as the treatment process is serious.

A council of oncologists was convened to find out in detail what changes are in the body and what treatment to apply. Before long, R. Jasinavičius underwent an operation that lasted more than 10 hours. Later I had to endure 2 cycles of chemotherapy and spend 2 weeks in rehabilitation.

“After that, they handed me over to the family doctor Vytautas Kasiulevičius. For another 20 years, as you can see, I will continue to live with this disease. Now I say that I have a second date of birth. It is very important to identify all changes as soon as possible, “said R. Jasinavičius.

The teacher emphasizes that every disease has its main cause and treatment is only a consequence.

“First of all, we must focus on prevention, not only on the diagnosis of the disease, but also on the eradication of the causes. From my practice, I can say that the cause of many oncological diseases is stress on the road. Yes we cut it down in all areas, it would really help a lot and there wouldn’t be so many diseases, “said the professor.

More and more cancers are being diagnosed late

According to preliminary data from the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Registry for 2020, compared to 2019, up to 3% of tumors were detected in the early stages. Less. Even worse is the increase in late-stage tumors.

“When we compared patients treated at the National Cancer Institute, the number of tumors detected in the early stages decreased by 6 percent and the total number of patients treated decreased. It is remembered that cancer diagnosed in the later stages is a difficult disease to treat and survival rates are quite low. Statistics on cancer rates in Spain show that out of every 5 cancer cases due to a pandemic have not been diagnosed at all, the country fears that cancer deaths will increase in the near future. Our country is no exception, “said Sonata Jarmalaitė, acting director of the National Cancer Institute and chair of the board of the Lithuanian Society of Oncologists.

In Lithuania, around 110 thousand people live with a cancer diagnosis, and even a third live with this diagnosis for 10 years or more. And in 2007, only a fifth of Lithuanians survived cancer in 10 years.

„2015 In Lithuania, 17.7 thousand people were diagnosed with cancer. people died – more than 8 thousand people. Cancer incidence rates in Lithuania are on an increasing trend, 0.8 percent each. the decrease in cancer mortality and the increase in morbidity survival each year indicate that the diagnosis of cancer is no longer a judgment. However, if we compare the Lithuanian indicators with other countries in the world and Europe, we really have a place to stretch, ”said the professor.

According to her, Lithuania is famous for having probably the shortest life expectancy in Europe, the worst avoided mortality rates, the low five-year survival rates for tumors of the breast, cervix, lungs and other locations.

You will put the position of case manager to the test

At a press conference at the National Cancer Institute, a new plan of efforts was presented to facilitate cancer patients’ access to physicians and the treatment process.

Alvydas Česas, director of the Oncology Chemotherapy Clinic at Klaipėda University Hospital (KUL), president of the Lithuanian Society of Oncological Chemotherapists, said that the main Lithuanian hospitals had started the Green Corridors project, which should transfer patients to hospitals and receive faster examination. For this purpose, so-called case managers should be used.

According to A. Česas, after the patient’s visit to the GP, if the disease is suspected, the person should see a specialist doctor.

“In this case, when there are managers, they will organize not only a faster and more detailed investigation, but also a discussion of a multidisciplinary team. Case managers, with the help of oncologists, will decide how quickly the patient needs treatment. Then the treatment starts. The manager in this case helps with the registration, sending messages with reminders when you need to arrive. We hope that the methodology of these “Green Corridors” will help to speed up the examination of patients not only in the future, but also at the beginning and at the end of treatment, “said A. Česas.

The doctor says that the case manager has been working with oncology patients at Klaipeda University Hospital for 2 years.

“We have a person who not only gathers the contacts of the patients, but actively collects all the information, the research, the extracts and then our councils decide what to do with that patient. This means that the case manager prepares all the documentation and sends it to the oncologists. It is debated whether this is a very urgent case or not. If it is very urgent, the patient receives all the necessary tests as a priority. It’s like holding a hand and walking us through the exams for a few weeks before the patient comes to the discussion with the team of doctors, who decides what the treatment will be, “Ches said.

According to the doctor, if the project shows that the work of that person in the hospital is valuable and useful, the manager position will be legitimized. In that case, there would be multiple administrators in each hospital.