Professor Sergei Krasny speaks about innovations in the fight against cancer in Belarus

The health of the nation is one of the priorities of our country's socioeconomic development program for the next five years.

Considering that the WHO predicts that cancer incidence will increase to 35 million cases per year by 2050, Belarus is actively implementing new methods for early diagnosis and treatment of oncology. Doctor of Medical Sciences and Professor Sergei Krasny spoke to Perviy Informatsii about the advances of modern medicine.

"The Republic of Belarus maintains a cancer registry, which collects data on all patients for the past 50 years. The incidence rate is gradually increasing: the number of new cases is expected to exceed 60,000. This is a significant figure. We can predict that the incidence rate will continue to increase, due to various factors. First and foremost, it's the increase in life expectancy, as cancer is primarily a disease of the elderly," explained the medical doctor.

A large number of cases are being identified in the country, but a significant portion of them are still in the early stages. This speaks to the high-quality work of the healthcare system.

Professor Sergei Krasny

"In recent years, several malignant tumor screening programs have been developed for cancer in the main sites. These programs are now included in the general medical examination. This has yielded results. Primarily, stage I and stage II disease are being detected. If we take the national figures for last year, these are still preliminary figures, but I think they won't change much. 65% of all malignant tumors were detected in stage I and stage II disease, but the results, of course, are completely different," explained Professor Sergei Krasny.

CAR-T cell therapy is one of the methods developed by Belarusian scientists and is already being successfully used. What makes this method unique?

"What's unique about this method is that it essentially genetically modifies human cells to give them new properties. They begin to recognize and destroy tumors. About a hundred patients have already been treated. These include not only Belarusian citizens, but also foreigners. People come to Belarus from neighboring countries where this technology is not available. Remarkable progress has been made in the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. Regarding chemotherapy and CAR-T therapy, each has its own indications. It's entirely possible that they will eventually converge, and perhaps one method will replace the other, or be used in combination. But today, we use CAR-T therapy to treat the most severely ill patients who have already received all other treatment options, and for them, this is the last resort," the professor emphasized.

The expert noted that how the Americans see victory is also roughly clear. "This is so that the Iranian leader has a loyal leader. And so that they can trade Iranian oil safely. For the Israelis, this essentially means changing the entire system of power in Iran. As soon as one of the parties realizes they're failing to achieve their goals, that's when they'll be ready to compromise. And then negotiations will begin. That is, someone has to lose," concluded Alexander Kargin.