No Diagnosis, No Treatment

Little patients are examined and diagnosed on a regular basis at the Kyiv National Institute of Cancer. One of the most precise methods is biopsy, that is tissue or bone samples taken with the help of a special needle for analysis. Such needles are quite expensive but they are always needed. The state doesn’t provide the Institute with them at all. So it’s no wonder that there are no needles at the hospital. Our goal is to provide the Institute with needles for bone marrow biopsy at least till winter.

Fortunately, malignant tumors in children is a rare disease. However, it occupies the 5th place among the causes of death for children under 15. Every year for 100 000 children in this age group 11-12 are diagnosed with malignant neoplasms.

However, such a diagnosis is not a reason for despair but rather the beginning of a long road for recovery. Using modern technologies of treatment cancer can be defeated! It is important for parents of children affected by cancer to refer to pediatric oncologists and begin treatment in time.

During a year about 150 children hospitalized at the Institute of Cancer have to undergo bone tissue and bone marrow examination for histological study – trepanobiopsy – before starting treatment. For trepanobiopsy compact and spongy bone substance with bone marrow is taken from the bone. This method is used in the diagnosis of bone tumors, some lesions of the skeletal system and to detect metastases in the bone marrow of malignant lymphoma and cancer.

The state doesn’t purchase needles for bone marrow biopsy, so the department is not provided with them. Diagnosis time for children gets longer because parents have to find a provider as needles are not sold in common drug stores. Often parents have to overpay for needles because they cannot buy them at a wholesale price.

This project objective is to ensure that till the end of 2013 90 children whose parents will not be able to purchase such needles will be diagnosed in time. For this we need 90 needles, that is we have to raise 15 692 UAH.