Assoc. Prof. Natalia Chilingirova, Head of the Oncology Center in ‘Heart and Brain’ Pleven: In the fight against cancer, the patient is what unites all teams
– Assoc. Prof. Chilingirova, what is the thing that motivates you, given the weight of your profession and specialty?
– Patient focus is our main driver in the fight against cancer. Our goal is a personal approach to everyone and the opportunity for the patient to comment in detail on all aspects of their disease with us, the specialists at the , Heart and Brain’ Oncology Centre. Hearing the diagnosis of cancer is like entering another world – full of new terminology and overwhelming decisions. That’s why we doctors are united around a very special mission: to stop the progression of cancer and give our patients a good quality of life. In addition to removing barriers in doctor-patient communication, the goal is to encourage the patient to trust the doctor, to ask questions in order to be informed and to make decisions. Trust is built when we, as professionals, have the courage to say all that matters in an individualized therapeutic approach and take responsibility for our actions. We insist on transparency and know that open and honest communication is critical to therapeutic success.
– How do you achieve complexity in cancer patient care?
– In medicine, and especially in oncology, treatment complexity is key. At the , Heart and Brain Cancer Center, we approach everything we do as one organism. We apply advanced and proven technologies – working in sync and in collaboration with all clinics and departments to provide the best health care and patient empathy. In the radiotherapy department, as indicated, patients can be treated with the unique Gamma Knife, and minimally invasive surgical interventions with the da Vinci robot are part of routine practice. As cancer is now also defined as a disease of the genome, precise diagnosis – based on a range of specific genetic tests – is the cornerstone of successful treatment. That’s why we invest in a highly specialized, certified to the highest modern standards and one-of-a-kind genetics laboratory. At our clinical research centre, patients get much-needed fast access to the latest innovative drug treatments as well as the latest clinical trials in oncology.
The Oncology Centre in , Heart and Brain Pleven is the first in Bulgaria to be a member of OECI (Organisation of European Cancer Institutes), therefore the comprehensive care and access to innovations at every stage of diagnosis, treatment and follow-up has established us as a centre for highly specialised and advanced care.
– What is the place of innovation?
– Innovativeness is about the challenge – constantly learning and getting better. We create and boldly apply new thinking that is valued by patients and colleagues across the country and Europe. We embrace discovery and innovation, knowing that exploring the unknown is the best way to drive progress in cancer treatment and care. We attract, develop and retain specialists who have the curiosity, passion and drive to continuously learn and challenge themselves in the search for a better approach to better outcomes for our patients. Our oncologists participate in a number of international forums as well as international research and clinical projects. They collaborate with colleagues from around the world and put into practice groundbreaking discoveries, even in our understanding of cancer as a disease. And this improves the possibilities for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Although the Cancer Centre is one of the youngest in the country, in just the last two years it has managed to establish itself as one of the leading centres and has already gained international recognition.
