Malignant tumors of the pancreas. The state of the problem and ways of development in Ukraine

Purpose: analysis of the problem of providing oncological care to patients with pancreatic cancer in Ukraine. Result and discussion: the strategy for the development of clinical oncology is essentially a nationwide problem that requires significant efforts to solve, and therefore should be an integral part of a comprehensive national strategy in the field of health care. Using the example of patients with pancreatic cancer, which is the most common cancer, the incidence, mortality, and performance indicators of the oncology service of Ukraine as a whole, as well as in the regions of our country, are characterized, and attention is focused on shortcomings in the organization of oncology care from 1995 to 2021. The main reasons for the lack of effectiveness of oncological care to this category of patients have been identified — a long latent course of the disease, nonspecific clinical manifestations similar to the clinical picture of chronic pancreatitis, limited possibilities of morphological verification of the diagnosis. The urgent need to adapt the work of the oncological service to the current realities has been demonstrated with an emphasis on three main parameters that determine the quality of medical care to the population, taking into account the immediate and long-term treatment outcomes — prevention, early diagnosis, screening. It should be noted that due to the complete absence of promising screening methods for detecting early forms of pancreatic cancer, the problem of treating widespread and metastatic forms of the disease remains relevant. At the same time, it is already appropriate to introduce, within the framework of the medical guarantees program, a package of medical services for patients with this pathology, including molecular genetic, immunological, and morphological studies, for the prevention and early diagnosis of this disease and the adequate treatment.