The National Congress on Haematology is organized every four years by the Bulgarian Medical Society of Haematology and it is the most significant event in this area. The association brings together 175 doctors, medical and non-medical professionals. This year the forum which closed at the end of October coincided with Bulgaria’s commitment to hold the 10th Balkan Day of Haematology, which over the last 10 years has been traditionally held in the Balkan countries. This allows participants to focus on cutting-edge presentations provided by speakers from different countries. The main topics covered at the congress highlight the most pressing problems in the treatment of oncology diseases, malignant diseases of the blood-forming organs and lymphatic system, which pose the biggest challenge to medicine. The latest data show the incidence of oncology diseases in Bulgaria is estimated at 147 per population of 100,000 and does not deviate significantly from the average data for Europe. In the majority of cancer types, most affected are representatives of the male gender.

We talk to Prof. Margarita Genova who was re-elected chairperson of the Bulgarian Medical Society of Haematology about what were the most important topics discussed at the forum:

"We focused on lymphomas, which occupy the bulk of malignant haematological diseases, acute forms of leukaemia, the most aggressive ongoing illnesses that require the greatest resources. We focused on a group of diseases called myeloproliferative, whose treatment was given impetus with the development of new drug technologies and new diagnostic tests."

According to Prof. Genova, a major factor for the early detection of cancer and onco-haematologic diseases are regular check-ups with your GP. Also important are the skills of those who turn to patients, their ability to recognize or suspect a haematological disease. Still there are no haematology screening programs here in Bulgaria. The diagnosing of the disease at an early stage is a dream for each haematologist in the so-called "solid" oncology field.  Prof. Genova drew attention to an interesting phenomenon in haematology. In the last 2-3 years there has been increasing interest from young haematologists to this field, which was threatened with extinction. Currently, about 30-40 graduate students have chosen this modern profession as the issue now is to how to keep them Bulgaria.

We asked Prof. Genova about her opinion over discussions about innovative medicines, modern concepts in the treatment of oncology diseases.

"Yes, these are topics that in recent years have been constantly on agenda of the forums, notably in haematology, which has always been a pioneer in these things in the introduction and development of new drugs. Revolutionary breakthroughs in oncology always start from onco-haematology. Targeted therapy in haematology is becoming more and more important. In the treatment of malignant diseases of the blood and the lymphoid tissue, we are seeking a balance between high-efficiency treatments to deal with the disease. With the invasion of targeted drugs, this "knot" is beginning to unravel. They are less harmful to the healthy tissue and with many of them a safer profile is expected, which gives good chances in haematology. For example, with one of the leukaemia types that used to condemn patients to inevitable death until 15 years ago and where average survival rate was about 3%, at the moment there are medications that are taken orally and these people can lead a normal life, have a family, with a practically non-invasive treatment," Prof. Genova explains.

English Rossitsa Petcova