Α) Clinical – laboratory work

It involves the provision of clinical diagnosis, paraclinical investigation, therapeutic treatment and palliative care for cancer patients with advanced and well recognized methods. The 3rd Oncology Clinic is can treat all forms of solid tumors, by administrating modern and innovative treatment techniques. The neoplastic diseases treated in the 3rd Oncology Department include: breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, melanoma, soft tissue sarcomas, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian germ cell tumors, renal cancer - bladder cancer, testicular cancer, brain tumors, head and neck cancer. Patient are hospitalized at the hospital’s highly organized nursing units, which are staffed by experienced nurses specialized in the care and treatment of the oncology patients. The treatment of the various concomitant diseases, as well as the complications of cancer treatment is performed by a team of specialized and highly experienced doctors in the one day clinic or in the hospital’s nursing units. The team works closely with all the relevant departments of our hospital, so that our patients can have access to all oncology specialties as well as to any department related to oncology care, such as the pain clinic.

The services provided in the One Day Clinic (ODC), which is fully equipped and operates on working days (07.00 am - 18.00 pm) with specialized and experienced nursing staff, include the administration of chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy as well as palliative care to oncology patients. Treatment is provided in accordance with the rules of Good Clinical Practice established by the International Oncology Societies.

The Unit provides its services to new patients or to patients who already have a medical record in the Clinic. These patients attend the unit either to continue their treatment or for re-treatment. Preparation of anticancer medications is carried out in a specially equipped area to maintain full sterilization conditions.

Within the Department’s clinical work, its members are to attend the Oncology Meeting that takes place in the Hospital every 2 weeks, where decisions are made for the treatment of a sufficient number of patients with solid tumors. Moreover, the Director of the Clinic, Mr. Dimitrios Pektasidis, has been attending the Oncology Meeting that takes place every Thursday at the 2nd University Propaedeutic Surgery Clinic of “Ippokrateio” Hospital (under the direction of Professor Mr. G. Zografos) since 2010. For the past two years, he has also been attending the Oncology Meeting which is held twice a month at the 1st University ENT Clinic of “Ippokrateio” Hospital” (under the direction of Professor Mr. I. Seggas). Treatment decisions have been made for thousands of cancer patients during the uninterrupted operation of these Oncology Meetings.

B) Educational work

The educational work involves training the Internal Medicine – Oncology residents of various Hospitals of the Attica Region. The course takes place once a month at the “Ippokrateio” Hospital, and includes treatment decision-making on cancer patient cases presented in everyday clinical practice, in conjunction with the relevant literature documentation. We hope that these courses will be integrated into the courses of the Hospital’s Scientific Committee and that they will continue to take place at the “Henry Dunant” Hospital Center. The Department also attends in the interdisciplinary courses of the Hospital’s Scientific Committee and either attends or actively participates in Greek and International conferences.

C) Research work

The research work concerns (a) the clinical research which is conducted by the Department of Clinical Studies and (b) the translational research. The 3rd Oncology Department’s team of physicians is a member of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group (HeCOG, www.hecog.gr) in which participate Oncology Clinics and departments from all over Greece. The Director of the Clinic, Emeritus Professor Dimitrios Pektasidis, is vice-president of the Board of Directors, and a member of the HeCOG Scientific Committee. The Clinic’s director, as principal investigator, and his colleagues as co-investigators, participate in phase ΙΙ, ΙΙΙ and IV clinical trials concerning various neoplasms. They also participate, either as principal investigators or as co-investigators in multicenter clinical studies, as well as in translational research protocols regarding various neoplastic diseases, which are carried out within the framework of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group or other international teams.

The Department of Clinical Studies will constitute a dynamic component of the 3rd Oncology Clinic. Its utmost priority will be to give patients treatment options with new, innovative and promising drugs. The Department of Clinical Studies will build on the tireless effort of the Director, the registrars, the nursing staff, the Coordinator of clinical studies and the data Administrator, who have the experience, training and expertise required to conduct the clinical studies. All clinical studies will be approved by the National Medicines Agency, the National Ethics Committee, the Scientific Council and the Board of the Directors of “Henry Dunant” Hospital Center.

The clinical studies are sponsored by the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group, as well as by other academic groups and pharmaceutical companies. The clinical trials provide additional financial resources to Clinics to support research, to the Hospital and to the Greek Authorities. Additionally, anti-cancer drugs, imaging and other laboratory examinations are provided free of charge to Hospital patients or Insurance Companies.

The translational research is carried out within the framework of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group (HeCOG) and in particular by the Laboratory of Anatomic Pathology of the University of Thessaloniki, which is equipped with highly advanced medical devices (e.g., NGS). Moreover, the laboratory consists of a staff (medical and technical) which is experienced and highly specialized in carrying out many molecular oncology tests.