Clinical and Experimental Oncology Department

Head
Elżbieta Nowara, PhD, MD

 

Secretariat:
phone: +48 32 278 87 17
 

The team of Medical Oncology and Experimental Department comprises medical oncology specialists.  A team of highly specialized and experienced oncology nurses provide round-the-clock medical care.  The main task of the Department consists in systemic treatment (which affects the cancer cells regardless of their location), including chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and hormonal therapy.  Medical oncology is a very rapidly growing branch of ​​medicine that requires continuous upgrading of skills available through regular training courses and conferences, both national and international.  This Department offers oncology specialization for all interns looking for opportunities in this field.
 

The Medical and Experimental Oncology Department performs comprehensive diagnostic testing of cancer patients.  In cooperation with other units of the Institute, we provide a wide range of modern diagnostic imaging and laboratory tests which are essential for proper diagnosis to determine the cancer staging.  The tests make it possible for us to individually choose the best possible treatment for patients and then to assess the effectiveness of the therapy.  The Medical and Experimental Oncology Department is a full-range referral oncology center.  Head of the Department Elżbieta Nowara, D.M., has been appointed Consultant in Clinical Oncology for the Upper Silesia Region.

The Medical and Experimental Oncology Department comprises two units:  the In-Patient Chemotherapy Ward, which accepts patients requiring systemic therapy in a hospital environment with round-the-clock monitoring.  This type of care is used especially for patients undergoing multiple-day chemotherapy. The other one, the Single-Day Chemotherapy Ward handles patients who do not require systemic therapy in a hospital environment with round-the-clock monitoring but who receive treatment in the form of single-day chemotherapy.  This type of therapy is usually reserved for postoperative breast and cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.

The Medical Clinic at the Medical and Experimental Oncology Department offers consultations for patients of all the Institute Departments at the Outpatient.  The Organ Teams include highly specialized professionals involved in the treatment of a specific cancer location or origin who develop a treatment plan and indications for chemotherapy.  During the visits, patients undergo detailed diagnostics and are then referred for individualized treatment. 

The Clinical and Experimental Oncology Department uses systemic treatment as the primary method of treating malignant tumors.  Chemotherapy may be applied prior to surgery (e.g., for locally advanced breast cancer) or after the procedure (e.g., for lung or colorectal cancers); frequently, it becomes an independent method of treatment (as in the case of multiple metastatic tumors or lymphomas).  We offer treatment under the National Health Fund Therapeutic Programs which cover new drugs (targeted therapy).

A specific form of cancer treatment used in the Clinical and Experimental Oncology Department involves concurrent combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.  The treatment requires close cooperation between the radiation oncologist and a clinical oncologist, and is prescribed for patients with colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, lung cancer, glioblastoma, and others.

The following cases are of particular interest to us:

 

                                           Colorectal cancer

• adjuvant chemotherapy following a surgery,
• combination chemoradiotherapy,
• palliative systemic therapy (including treatment with targeted therapy),

Pancreatic cancer

• palliative chemotherapy,
• targeted therapy,
• combination radiochemotherapy,

Stomach cancer

• adjuvant postoperative radiochemotherapy,
• palliative chemotherapy,
• targeted therapy;

Breast cancer

• preoperative or neoadjuvant systemic therapy,
• adjuvant surgery
• and palliative therapy, including hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy (trastuzumab and lapatinib are currently covered by the National Health Fund).

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Lymphomas (Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) 

diagnosis and comprehensive treatment including systemic therapy, immunotherapy with rituximab, and radiotherapy.  Treatment at the Division of Bone Marrow Transplantation has been available since 2010.

 

Lung cancer

• combination chemoradiotherapy,
• adjuvant or palliative chemotherapy,
• targeted therapy;

Ovarian cancer

• chemotherapy before or after surgery,
• systemic treatment of advanced diseases;

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) 

• targeted therapy with imanitib or sunitinib covered under a National Health Fund program;

Testicular cancer and other gonadal cancers

• postoperative chemotherapy, and the treatment of advanced stages of the disease; as a full profile reference center we care for patients with other rare cancers when there are indications for a systemic therapy.

For many years now, the Clinical and Experimental Oncology Department has been conducting international clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of new anti-cancer drugs - prior to their general clinical implementation.  As a result, many patients have now gained access to a novel experimental treatment, often as an alternative to standard procedures.  Early knowledge about such drugs even before they appear in the market results in doctors at the Clinics being well prepared for their routine use.  Current research covers studies of the colorectal cancer, other cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as breast and ovarian cancers.
 
The scope of work performed at the Clinical and Experimental Oncology Department includes important research into the processes leading to the formation of tumors and optimization of the treatment currently used.  The team is involved in research projects, such as the search for predictive factors of modern chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy methods, in particular.  In cooperation with other divisions of the Institute, including the Centre for Translational Research and Cancer Molecular Biology, the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Endocrine Oncology is studying modern molecular markers in gastrointestinal cancers, such as colon and pancreatic cancers, markers of chemotherapy response in breast cancer, treatment optimization in ovarian cancer, lung cancer, endocrine tumors, and other rare neoplasms.