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A chatbot about lung cancer was launched in Ukraine

Ukraine launched Chatbot "Full Lungs", which will help patients get more information about lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. Chatbot "To the full chest" consists of two large blocks of information: lung cancer and the rights of oncology patients.

Patients can learn about diagnosis, disease stages, treatment regimens, as well as drugs and medical services provided under the Medical Guarantee Program, i.e. free of charge for the patient.

The chatbot also has a step-by-step guide to diagnosis and treatment protocols for small cell and non-small cell cancer.

As thoracic surgeon, oncologist of the National Cancer Institute and Dobrobut network Yuriy Kondratskyi said at the chatbot presentation, lung cancer – a very aggressive, but well-studied disease.

"The disease has a huge number of options for treatment. The main thing is timely detection and treatment in the initial stages, when it comes to surgical intervention and less traumatic treatment," – says the doctor.

According to him, unfortunately, there are currently no screening programs for lung cancer in Ukraine, and this disease shows symptoms only in the late stages.

Yuriy Kondratsky noted that computer tomography with contrast, bronchoscopy and biopsy are used to diagnose the disease.

"The histological picture is very important. The treatment method depends on the type of cancer a person has," – says Yurii Kondratskyi.

The doctor also emphasizes that it is very important for patients to be aware of their illness.

"If the doctor sees that the patient is knowledgeable, then he will communicate with him more, answer questions. And if the patient does not care, he does not know anything, then the doctor will also close", &ndash ; says the oncologist.

Oncologist, former chief physician of the National Cancer Institute Andriy Beznosenko  urges people to visit a doctor on time and not to wait until there are symptoms of cancer, particularly hemoptysis. He emphasizes that it is necessary to abandon the instruction that one only goes to the hospital when it hurts.

"Every year in Ukraine, 120,000 new cases of oncological diseases are detected. We must understand that cancer is almost impossible to prevent. But it can be diagnosed and treated in time. In Ukraine, the percentage of deaths among cancer patients is the highest. And this is related’ with late diagnosis, detection of the disease at late stages of development", – Andriy Beznosenko. 

As noted in the "Liki-control" NGO, one of the goals of creating a chatbot – is to dispel certain myths about cancer. In particular, the fear of a diagnosis and the belief that cancer cannot be cured without money.

"We talk a lot about timely diagnosis, preventive examinations. And the chatbot "Full breasts" is another step on this path. People usually have a hard time accepting cancer diagnoses. They ignore treatment or are afraid to start it. And this only worsens the situation. The chatbot will help to understand how the treatment will take place, what stages are waiting for the person, what can be obtained from the future therapy free of charge. The bot will facilitate the communication between the patient and the doctor. And hopefully, it will remove the person's fears about the disease,"  Natalia Guran told the head of NGO "Lyky Kontrol".

Co-founder of the public organization "Athena. Women Against Cancer" Viktoria Romanyuk also believes that information about cancer and knowledge of patients' rights helps patients survive.

"The more informed the patient is, the more chances he has for successful treatment. People on social networks write that there is no free cancer treatment, but for many years we have been talking about how to defend the rights of patients. Various tools help a lot in this In particular, such as the chatbot on "Full breasts", – says Viktoriya Romanyuk.

According to her, lung cancer is called "the #1 killer in the world" due to the fact that it is very often detected in the late stages. In Ukraine, such patients are very often either not treated at all, or the wrong protocol is used, which leads to death.

"Often doctors don't give these patients a molecular test that detects mutations. A person with stage 4 is often just sent home to die. Although there is a targeted therapy that can stop the disease. I personally know such patients who are at this stage diseases are in remission, live for many years and work", – says a representative of the organization.

Experts also noted that the number of lung cancer cases in Ukraine is affected by the war. In particular, constant shelling and destruction of housing can cause the growth of oncological diseases. After all, the houses were built using asbestos, which causes neoplasms and is currently prohibited in construction. During explosions, this substance is released into the air, and people nearby are at risk.

Source: https://life.pravda.com.ua/health/2023/05/24/254445/

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