DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY IPPOKRATIO HOSPITAL

The Department of Pediatric Oncology of Ippocratio General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece, is an independent NHS department and has been operating since 1990 within the framework of the NHS and the 2nd Pathological Department of Ippocratio Hospital. Treats 40-50 new cases every year of children and adolescents (0-16 years) with neoplastic diseases that cover the entire spectrum of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. It operates as an inpatient clinic with 20 beds on a 24-hour duty for the outpatients of the Department. It has an Outpatient Clinic for the follow-up of children, teenagers and young adults who have been cured and a Genetic Cancer Predisposition Outpatient Clinic. The Department operates a Day-care Clinic. The mission of the Department is the reduction of cancer and its consequences in Northern Greece, through programs of treatment and care of patients, research and education of students, postgraduates, doctors, specialist pediatricians and the community. High-tech techniques are used both in the diagnosis of the disease and in monitoring. The treatment is personalized with the newest targeted treatments, immunotherapy to the dictates of modern Precision Medicine. Our participation in International multicenter treatment protocols gives our patients the same opportunities as any advanced Center abroad. There is collaboration with oncology centers abroad, representation of the Department at national and European level for osteosarcoma, implementation of European chemotherapy protocols and inclusion in immunotherapy clinical studies. Some European treatment protocols and international working groups are mentioned indicatively: ALLIC 2019, ALLIC Relapse, AML-BFM 2019, EWOG MDS/JMML/SAA, LINES, HR-NBL2 SIOPEN, LCH-IV, FaR-RMS, UMBRELLA, FOSTER, PanCare, PARTNER-Rare tumors. The scientific training of the Department’s doctors is continuous with participation in post-educational programs in Greece and abroad and in the creation of guidelines for neoplastic diseases based on international developments. The work of the Associations of Parents and Friends, alongside doctors, patients and their Families, is valuable. “LAMPSI” covers multiple needs of patients. The hostels of “STORGI” and “FLOGAS” have solved the housing problem of families who live far from the treatment centers. The Pediatric Oncology Department of Ippocratio represents Greece in the European Osteosarcoma Study Group with participation in the FOSTER Executive Committee. The long-term survival curves of the patients in the Department are similar or higher compared to the results of international centers, so that 4 out of 5 children achieve a complete recovery.