Department of pediatric oncology

The Department of Pediatric Oncology of the Center is the only department of pediatric oncology in the Northwestern Federal District of Russia in which all main types of cancer treatments can be provided within one in-patient facility.

The Department treats children with various specific types of neoplasms:

• Retinoblastoma
• malignant tumors of the kidney (Wilms tumor, renal carcinoma)
• Neuroblastoma
• Hodgkin lymphoma
• non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Langerhans cell histiocytosis
• Malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord
• Malignant tumors of bones and arthrodial cartilages:

            - osteogenic sarcoma,
            - Ewing sarcoma,
            - chondrosarcoma, etc.

• Soft tissue sarcomas:

            - rhabdomyosarcoma,
            - leiomyosarcoma,
            - synovial sarcoma,
            - fibrosarcoma,
            - esthesioneuroblastoma,
            - malignant schwannoma,
            - fibroadenoma, etc.

• Germ cell tumors
• Tumors of the brain and spinal cord, including anaplastic gliomas of the brain stem
• Melanomas and other skin neoplasms
• Malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system and reproductive system
• Angioneoplasms, including Kasabach-Merritt syndrome.

Treatment modalities

• High-toxic drug therapy in conjunction with intensive corrective and supportive treatment;
• Treatment with target drugs;
• Vaccine therapy with the use of autologous dendritic cell vaccines to treat some types of tumors;
• High-dose chemotherapy to treat lymphomas and solid tumors in conjunction with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation;
• Surgical treatment, including:
  1. organ sparing surgeries with single-stage endoprosthesis replacement in cases of tumors of facial bones, upper and lower extremities and chest wall;
  2. extensive and combined reconstructive surgeries, reconstructive plastic surgeries, microsurgeries and videoimage endoscopy surgeries to treat malignant neoplasms of various sites;
  3. metastasectomy with isolated lung chemoperfusion of patients with metastatic lung cancer;
  4. neurological surgeries to treat tumors of the central (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nervous systems;
  5. cryogenic surgeries to treat some types of benign neoplasms, including mammary fibroadenomas;
  6. laser treatment of benign skin neoplasms;
• Radiation therapy, including stereotactic radiotherapy.

To diagnose and stage a neoplastic possess, the Department uses all technologically advanced equipment available at the Center’s clinic, such as MRI and CT scanners, a gamma camera, an ultrasonography apparatus, an X-ray machine and a dermatoscope. To obtain samples for morphological verification of a diagnosis, the Department performs minimally invasive procedures such as needle biopsy and/or trephine biopsy that can be either ultrasound-guided or under control of an electro-optical transducer.

The Department is headed by - Dr Svetlana A. Kuleva, D.Sc. in Medicine, Professor, oncologist with the highest qualification category.

Physicians of the Department:

• Dr Evgeniy M. Senchurov, pediatric oncologist, pediatric surgeon
• Dr Gennadiy V. Gribov, neurosurgeon
• Dr Oksana A. Krylova, psychotherapist

Research and Practice Activities of the Department