National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation named after P.A. Herzen
Moscow Research Oncological Institute named after P.A. Herzen - a branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation" - the first oncological scientific and practical institution in Europe and the first oncological hospital in Russia, where the foundations of oncological science and service were laid.
The Institute specializes in surgical, radiation, drug, photodynamic, combined treatment of patients with tumors of various localization; develops and implements new methods of diagnostics and therapy that improve the prognosis and quality of life after treatment. The scientific sector of the Institute is engaged in the study of the etiology and pathogenesis of the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and the development of methods for prevention, diagnosis, surgical, radiation, drug, combined, and complex treatment of malignant tumors.
- Surgery. The Herzen Moscow State Medical Research Institute is an expert center in oncosurgery in the Russian Federation, the CIS countries, and Europe. The leaders of the Institute are members of many professional societies and are also members of their organizational committees. Every month in the operating rooms of the MSMRI, the surgeon's show cases are carried out, which are broadcast via the Internet. The Institute has competitive statistics of minimally invasive surgery in oncogynecology and oncourology, video-assisted frontal and segmentectomies, resections of the stomach and esophagus, colon, liver, and mediastinal tumors by minimally invasive methods. Today, oncologists are surgeons; they are also plastic surgeons. In the departments of oncomammology, plastic interventions for women are performed simultaneously with oncological surgery, aimed at solving critical issues of aesthetics and social rehabilitation.
- Radiation therapy. The Institute has a unique set of devices for conducting various types of radiation therapy: four-electron accelerators Elekta Axesse, Elekta Infinity, Siemens Oncor, as well as a robotic CyberKnife system and a MULTISOURCE brachytherapy device. In 2018, more than 2,300 patients were treated with tumors of the head and neck, lung, esophagus, brain, breast, rectum, prostate, and gynecological tumors. All the modern radiotherapy technologies available in the world are used: 3D-CRT-three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, IMRT - radiation therapy with intensity modulation, VMAT-radiation therapy with intensity modulation by arches, IGRT-radiation therapy with target control during radiation therapy, SBRT-stereotactic radiotherapy, SRS-stereotactic radiosurgery.
- Reconstructive microsurgery. In 1943, the first specialized department of ENT oncology was established at the Herzen Moscow State Medical Research Institute. Today, the specialists of the Institute for reconstructive microsurgery of the head and neck are indisputable authorities not only in Russia but also in the world. The most complex reconstructive technologies in the treatment of tumors of all localizations are actively introduced into clinical practice. New technologies for the reconstruction of the facial skeleton after malignant tumors, reconstruction of the upper parts of the aerodigestive tract using abdominal cavity complexes, and visceral autografts are being developed. In addition, cellular biotechnologies and bioengineering methods are being introduced and designed to reconstruct the oropharyngeal region of the upper digestive tract to create autologous structures lost as a result of tumor removal.
- Endoscopic technology. Ultramodern endoscopic technologies of diagnostics and treatment are actively used at the Herzen Moscow State Medical Research Institute. Close-focus narrow-spectral endoscopy (NBI Near Focus), confocal laser endomicroscopy, and endocytoscopy can detect precancerous diseases and early forms of cancer of the esophagus, stomach, colon, and bronchial tree with dimensions less than 1 mm and predict the histological structure of the neoplasm without biopsy, using endoscopic ultrasonography to assess the depth of the tumor spread into the organ wall, determine the structure of submucosal neoplasms and visualize the affected lymph nodes. Also, ultramodern methods of organ-preserving intraluminal endoscopic removal of tumors are actively used: endoscopic resection of the mucous membrane with dissection in the submucosal layer, endoscopic photodynamic therapy, argon plasma coagulation, which allow removing tumors without incisions and punctures, directly through the endoscope.
- Treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis. The method of intra-abdominal aerosol chemotherapy under pressure (PIPAC) was invented in Germany. Still, this technique has been introduced into clinical practice only in the Russian Federation at the P. A. Herzen Moscow State Medical Research Institute. This is the latest innovative method of treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis. Intra-abdominal aerosol chemotherapy under pressure (PIPAC) provides delivery of the drug directly to the tumor cells located on the inner lining of the anatomical cavity. First, the procedure is performed by laparoscopy (thoracoscopy). Then, in the abdominal or pleural cavity, an aerosol of chemotherapy drugs is sprayed under the pressure of carbon dioxide and left for 30 minutes. With this method of administration of chemotherapy drugs, their effect on the tumor increases many times in the complete absence of systemic toxicity.
- Bone marrow transplant. The intensification of drug treatment with the inclusion of high-dose chemotherapy followed by transplantation of autologous (own) blood stem cells makes it possible to destroy a tumor insensitive to standard doses of cytostatics. The Herzen Moscow State Medical Research Institute is one of the institutes in the Russian Federation where high-tech treatment is carried out for prognostically unfavorable variants of lymphomas-transplantation of autologous blood stem cells. After achieving the necessary antitumor effect, procurement and cryopreservation of the patient's hematopoietic stem cells are performed. Next, high-dose chemotherapy is performed (using the maximum tolerated doses of cytostatics), followed by transfusion of previously harvested hematopoietic stem cells. These cells fill the bone marrow "emptied" after the high-dose stage of treatment, multiply and differentiate into mature blood cells, making it possible to restore damaged hematopoiesis.
- Photodynamic therapy. The methods of fluorescence diagnostics (FD) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) were first applied in clinical practice in Russia in 1992 at the Herzen Moscow State Medical Research Institute. In the following years, the Center for Laser and Photodynamic Diagnostics and Therapy of Tumors (hereinafter referred to as the Center) was established on the basis of the Institute, which is a scientific, educational and methodological base for the introduction of FD and PDT methods in the regions of Russia. FD methods can reveal even hidden foci of early cancer on the surface – either the mucous membrane or the skin. The use of these methods leads to the fact that the detection of early cancer increases. PDT techniques developed at the Center are successfully used to treat precancerous conditions – actinic keratosis, dysplasia of the cervix, vulva, and the mucous membrane of hollow organs. PDT is effective in treating early cancer of various localizations: skin, esophagus, stomach, cervix, vulva, bladder, etc. In addition, the PDT method effectively helps even in cases where other forms of antitumor treatment are not applicable or ineffective: in the palliative treatment of patients with stenosing esophageal cancer, cardia, and different localizations.
- Cancer register. To date, the population cancer register is an information and analytical system (IAS "Cancer Register") for collecting, storing, and analyzing data about malignant neoplasms among the population in the territory of the Russian Federation. Every year, the IAS "Cancer Register" issues two bulletins: on the state of morbidity and mortality in the Russian Federation and on the state of cancer care for the population of Russia. In the Atlas of Modern Oncology (second edition, American Cancer Society, 2014), the cancer registry of the Russian Federation is evaluated as a high-quality regional one. There are 3,630,567 patients registered in cancer dispensaries of the Russian Federation. In 2018, 615,177 new cancer cases were detected; the absolute number of deaths from cancer in 2018 was 155,754 people.
Doctors of the Clinic
Polyakov Andrey Pavlovich
Head of the Department of Microsurgery, Moscow Oncological Research Institute named after P.A. Herzen
Glushko Vladimir Alekseevich
Leading Researcher
Bolotina Larisa Vladimirovna
Head of the Department of Chemotherapy, MSMRI named after P.A. Herzen
Rozhkova Nadezhda Ivanovna
Head of the National Center of Oncology reproductive organs of P.A. Herzen