1. Basic project information

Project title: Increase performance regarding diagnosis and treatment of cancers in children by improving technical equipment, purchase of modern devices, medical personnel training and development of guidelines
Programme area: European Public Health Challenges
Project promoter: The Oncology Institute ”Prof. Dr. I. Chiricuta”, 34-36 Republicii Street, RO-400015 Cluj-Napoca.

Donor project partner(s): The Norwegian Directorate of Health
Romanian partners:
1. “Louis Turcanu” Children’s Emergency Hospital, Timisoara
2. The Regional Institute of Oncology, Iasi
3. Institute of Oncology “Prof. Dr. Al Trestioreanu”, Bucharest

Project budget: 3,698,245.75 euro
Project duration: 24 Months

2. Project summary

The project’s general objective is to increase the access of children suffering from different types of cancer to high quality and efficient medical services, at national level in Romania. The increase of the survival rate of children affected with cancer is possible when the modern and performant technical endowment is supported by qualified and trained medical personnel. Therefore, the project has three main components: purchasing high performance medical care equipment, developing a national set of guidelines for specialists involved in paediatric haemato-oncology diagnostic and treatment and training medical staff in using new technologies in treatment procedures.

One of the main project activities is increasing the technological endowment of IOCN as one of the main hospitals in Romania providing specialized treatment to children suffering from different types of cancer. The largest number of oncological patients are treated in the Oncological Institute Cluj-Napoca: only 20% of these children live in Cluj County and the neighboring counties, the remaining 80% being children with cancer from all over the country.

Through the funding of this project, IOCN will purchase:

– one tomography computer (CT) with simulation capacity of radiotherapy treatments;
– two automatic dilution devices for preparing automatically the substances used in chemotherapy;
– one IMRT software for the existing radiotherapy equipment in order to increase the efficiency of the radiotherapy treatments;
– two anaesthesia machines used during the CT exploration of children;
– 4 portable ultrasounds for the diagnostic and monitoring procedures especially related to thyroid and soft parts cancers;
– 2 gamma probe devices for diagnostic and treatment procedures (during the “sentinel ganglion technique”);
– two Eco Doppler ultrasounds for diagnostic and monitoring procedures of different types of cancers (especially related to blood vessels);
– 3 computers and 2 multifunctional printers to be used by the medical staff in the usual medical activity (creating, editing, printing, scanning and copying relevant documents: medical reports, medical letters, hospitalization documents etc.).

The purchase of this equipment will lead to increasing of diagnostic and treatment capacity in the haemato-oncology department of IOCN, one of the project’s outcomes, including in using radiotherapy in cancer treatment.

Cancer treatment technologies are developing in all hospitals in Romania. Due to the existing inequalities in the technologies used and the level of professional training of the doctors in Romania, this project proposes the creation of a national set of guidelines and training sessions of the professionals involved in cancer treatment.

The development of National clinical guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of pediatric tumors personalized to the particular Romanian situation is important since a radiation therapy is part of the multidisciplinary treatment. Radiotherapy is scientifically proven to have results in improving oncological outcomes of children with cancer (survival and quality of life). The purpose of these guidelines is to achieve national standards aligned with the European norms through protocols approved by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) or according to the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), adapted to the concrete situation in Romania.

The guidelines will be developed by Romanian specialists from IOCN in collaboration with the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The Norwegian partner institution has a vast experience in developing and monitoring the implementation of guidelines in the medical field. Also, the medical procedures and technology used in Norway are more advanced than in Romania, thus their experience can influence positively on the elaboration of the guidelines in Romania.

The outcome of these actions will be increased quality of paediatric oncology medical care at national level. The project will be implemented in partnership with Romanian onco-paediatric hospitals from other regions of the country; Timisoara, Iasi and Bucharest.
The project includes organizing and conducting of training courses for radiation therapists who activate or want to work in the field of pediatric oncology. The aim of these courses is the accumulation of new knowledge in this field, at the level of the standards existing in the European Union, all of which have the ultimate objective to improve the oncological outcomes of these children and implicitly the reduction of infant mortality in Romania.

The training program created will be implemented locally, in each Romanian hospital involved in the project (Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi and Bucharest). 84 physicians will be continuously trained in using modern methods and techniques in chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other relevant treatments used in the paediatric oncology field. The training sessions will be planned locally during a whole period of 12 months, with a monthly frequency.
Creating and implementing at national level a special training program for physicians involved in paediatric oncology field will positively influence the survival rates of children with cancer in Romania.

The project is purposed to be implemented through a partnership of 4 Romanian hospitals, active and relevant at regional level in the paediatric oncology field (IOCN, Emergency Clinical Hospital Louis Turcanu Timisoara, Regional Institute of Oncology Iasi and Institute of Oncology “Prof. Dr. AL. Trestioreanu” Bucharest), and the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The Norwegian partner will assure the expertise necessary for developing sustainable guidelines for specialists involved in treating children with different types of cancer and a national training program for physicians based on these guidelines. The 4 Romanian hospitals will assure the national impact of the project through the importance of these institutions at regional level and even at national level (IOCN treating children from all regions and counties of Romania). Thus, the project is of great importance for Romania in the health domain significantly contributing to raising the access of children suffering from different types of cancer to high quality and efficient medical services, at national level.