ProstateHistory campaign and free meetings with an oncologist. Episode 58

Monika Rachtan
Hi, Monika Rachtan. I would like to welcome you very warmly to the next episode of the programme "Patient First". I don't think I need to convince you that men don't like going to the doctor, but today we're going to talk about why it's important for a patient with suspected prostate cancer or who has prostate cancer to consult not only a urologist, but also a clinical oncologist. And all this on the occasion of the launch of the next edition of the Prostate History campaign, organised by the Onkocafe Foundation Together Better. In the studio with me today is Ania Kupiecka. Hi, Ania.

Anna Kupiecka
Good morning, hello.

Monika Rachtan
Ania is the president of the Onkocafe Foundation and we will just be talking about the next edition of the Prostate History education campaign. Ania, this campaign was established seven years ago. What are its main aims and objectives?

Anna Kupiecka
The aims and objectives of this campaign are to reach out to patients, also healthy men, those who are not yet patients, but also the relatives of these people, because it is often the case that it is the loved one who supports the older person. In the case of prostate cancer, it can often be the elderly, although younger and younger men are becoming ill. The campaign is designed to educate, to support. We provide a huge amount of psychological knowledge, but also a lot of stories from patients who have gone through the disease themselves and have been willing to share with other men what it was like for them, what the treatment pathway was like for them, how they emotionally approached their treatment, how they went through it. Finally what it's like when you're many years after your first treatment for example. Also a lot of knowledge too from experts, excellent practitioners, doctors who work with patients so that you can find answers to a lot of your questions in one place on the Prostate History website.

Monika Rachtan
And yes, listen, there is educational content on the campaign website in the form of videos, so here you can pick up this knowledge very quickly.

Anna Kupiecka
Also in the form of films. Also, there is a whole playlist on our foundation's YouTube channel, where we are constantly adding videos. However, knowledge is moving forward. Patient pathways are also changing, so we supplement the material with new video content, but also psychological content.
Monika Rachtan
And I would like to stress that every statement you prepare for patients, every consultation, every piece of advice that appears on the web, you prepare together with an expert. So it's not some knowledge shared from the internet. It's not something you read somewhere and you publish it. Only in each of these materials is the source given. You have a guide here, Anne, which is signed by an expert. So this is expert knowledge, reliable knowledge, the kind of knowledge that we today want to use and need.

Anna Kupiecka
Yes, because this is what patients often report to us, that the first thing they did, when they heard they had a suspected cancer, they immediately went to the internet and there they were flooded with all sorts of different news. But we try to take care of this and insist with our patients that they use reliable sources. Each of our materials is material created anew, from scratch. Whether it's video material, content, guides, leaflets with an expert and widely consulted on the basis of the latest knowledge. Because in oncology, it's all galloping. Everything is changing rapidly. Anyway, the prostate cancer treatment programme in Poland has also undergone some very significant changes in recent years due to modern drugs, to this treatment pathway that has to be applied differently. Changes in prostate cancer treatment guidelines. These influence the need for updates. And here we already have our latest guideline fresh in print. Even with our new logo, which is from this year, we are very pleased. We are proud of it, which contains indeed knowledge and a good package of knowledge from very good specialists of doctors, psycho-oncologist, nutritionist.

Anna Kupiecka
However, we try to take a comprehensive approach to patients.

Monika Rachtan
Well, that's because this guide, which I have had the pleasure of co-authoring with you, are questions from. These are questions asked in the language of patients. These are the most important answers addressed to patients. In accessible language, such that when we sit down with our dad or our husband, together we want to learn something, we are able to absorb this information. If we, as men, reach for this handbook ourselves, really reading what is in it, we understand, we get along with this doctor who is writing to us.

Anna Kupiecka
Well, yes, it can be a big difference between a conversation with a doctor in the office, which lasts a certain amount of time, which is also often overshadowed by the patient's emotions, or a visit, after which we often hear I don't remember anything, I don't know what's there.

Monika Rachtan
It was, or this doctor didn't tell me anything.

Anna Kupiecka
Or the doctor didn't tell me anything. But this happens because it was difficult to listen, difficult to take in. This is new information, often a new language in general medical, concepts unknown before, this is always the case when we encounter a new disease. Therefore, the written content is the content that is always with us for a long time. We can refer to it at any time. It is also worth having for a long period of time. We are always happy to have this guide with us for a longer period of time, and this is its third update, the third edition. We are renewing, supplementing, changing. But because we know, we are not publishing a new one, we are updating this one, because we know how well patients work with this material and doctors work with it. It was really well received by the experts in the field who consulted here, too, and we know how, in practice, it is such a good tool for them to give the patient so that they can familiarise themselves with this knowledge in peace and quiet, in their own conditions at home.

Monika Rachtan
Anne, I know that the guide can be downloaded from the campaign website. Is it available in urology practices nationwide? What does it look like?

Anna Kupiecka
That would be the case. It would have to be maybe hundreds, tens of thousands of pieces, but in the thousands. It has already gone all over Poland. Indeed, the Polish Urological Society has also supported us. Also, if there are facilities that make requests to us after they have received the first one, we try to send. However, please remember that we are only an organisation, patient to patient, to secure all facilities in Poland we do not have the resources.

Monika Rachtan
This printed version is beautiful, but if we print the one that is available on the website, the knowledge in it is also factual and worthy.

Anna Kupiecka
If there is a need, you can contact us. And we will always do a reprint. There is a handbook at the foundation's headquarters. Just still warm. I took it out of the cardboard box today. This one is also of the Foundation you can write to us. And this is what happens. Indeed, that the establishments that distribute it, that care for the patient, have this opportunity to make it available. They also write to us asking us to send them and so we do.

Monika Rachtan
We have told you about how the campaign has looked in recent years, what has happened, what educational activities have you prepared for men and their loved ones? And what are you preparing for men all over the country this year? Because I know that from the website you are going out to the men a little bit And tell me, what will be happening this year?

Anna Kupiecka
From the website, we already went out to people in previous years, but in a slightly different formula, because we organised meetings for patients and their relatives. But at our headquarters, at the headquarters of the foundation, we invited people to meetings with a urologist, with an oncologist, with a surgeon. Whereas at the moment we're actually going all over Poland, we're going to visit 10 cities in the country. And the task is not easy, because although the queues and to colleagues are very long, the deadlines to blog, sometimes several months, we want to give an answer to this need, to this long wait, and we are going to ten places in Poland, as I said, but it turns out that, well, there are not so many people willing to go. I mean, after the announcement of the campaign, for the time being it's still narrow, because we are just starting with this information. Well, men, however, are afraid to come face to face with oncology. They are convinced that perhaps it is enough at the urologist that they. Or is it not cancer? Because if we're at a urologist, this disease maybe has a slightly different name. And if we are at an oncologist then maybe here it is already threatening and such considerations are made.

Monika Rachtan
Anne, but I also have the impression that the majority of men who are treated by urologists do not evaluate the treatment here at all. They are simply not informed that such an oncological consultation, which can actually contribute something, but also not at all to the current treatment, should simply be done. And that reaching for a second opinion, which we have talked about a lot in this programme, also with another specialist, because it is not said that we have to go to another urologist, maybe it is worth consulting an oncologist? That is still not so obvious in our country and that maybe the fact that men don't necessarily know at all why they should come to this oncologist comes from that.

Anna Kupiecka
In principle, every oncology patient should be dealt with by a team and there should be a consilium. A consilium made up of all the experts who are involved in this field. That is, here a radio, a therapist, an oncologist, a urologist, a psychologist, perhaps a coordinator should be part of the consilium. However, sometimes these consiliums do not take place or they take place remotely. However, there are very big queues to the urologist. There are not enough of these doctors, there are too few. There are too few oncologists in Poland, because urologists often have too little time to explain everything to the patient that is necessary. This is why we educate and encourage patients to complete the knowledge themselves. There is no single pathway where the patient gets everything on a platter, because that is perhaps what happens to patients, with breast cancer. We have a Breast Cancer Unit, centres for comprehensive care for breast cancer patients, and where there is a profiled centre, one that specialises in dealing with one type of cancer, then this pathway perhaps looks a little different. For years, there have been attempts and endeavours in Poland to establish Prostate Cancer Unity, i.e. prostate cancer treatment centres.

Anna Kupiecka
But there are no such centres, so I think it's just disordered knowledge, even though there are guidelines, doctors know how to treat, but this stage of patient flow between urology, oncology or other specialists is quite difficult.

Monika Rachtan
And when should such an appointment with a clinical oncologist occur? If we are under the care of a urologist, but, for example, we still have drug treatment in place, do we know that we are due for surgery, that it may be in a few months' time, do we already have a date set for this surgery. Should we apply at this point?

Anna Kupiecka
But I will not give an answer to this question, because the treatment of prostate cancer sometimes takes many years in follow-up, so this question can only be answered by a specialist doctor for each individual patient. There is no definite answer that you should already be with an oncologist or consulted at this or that point. The subject is very, very broad and it is worth asking your doctor about it. Can I do this or should I? Could I. You don't need a referral to see an oncologist either.

Monika Rachtan
A lot of men have prostate cancer or prostate hypertrophy yet when they're not scheduled for surgery. I'm treated privately and I also think that then we have that confidence that we're getting the best possible care, that nothing more needs to be done, because we have this private doctor, we pay for these visits, so that's us. We got the best care that we could get and that's obviously how it can be, but still. It might be worth reaching out for that oncology consultation as well. But I'd like to ask you, because a lot of patients don't know that in addition to surgery, some treatment may be needed in a while. Some treatment can be suggested to us by a clinical oncologist. And I'm absolutely not asking you here to give us drug programme guidelines and explain all these complexities, because that's what doctors are for. But that's it in a nutshell, because you have a great deal of knowledge of what treatment may still come up here.

Anna Kupiecka
It all depends on how far advanced the disease is. Does a lot depend on whether there has just been a consultation of all the specialists between each other at this first stage of treatment? We are hearing more and more that the urologist consults the oncologist with the urologist and within the same institution, however, these two specialities try to consider what may happen next. Because this disease also progresses individually in each patient. In some it appears faster. I have a relapse or metastasis. In others, it is slower. So it's really in these areas that I wouldn't want to comment, because here you also invite excellent experts to talk, but I think in Poland in general. Every patient who has a suspicion of any cancer should not be afraid to go to an oncologist. And with us, we still educate, we also go around Poland with education, with pink patrols, with educating the public. And I still see such big eyes and terror appear at the word oncologist. And I think that this profession should also be tamed a little bit, because more and more people are going to get different types of cancer. I think, therefore, that the basis of all our actions is, above all, taming oncology, taming it, talking about the disease, talking about it in a way which does not frighten or scare people, because it happens all too often that people give up on treatment or postpone it, that they trivialise the symptoms.

Anna Kupiecka
And it happens very often with patients with prostate cancer that they wait too long, that they try to blame it on various other reasons for this ill health, and they get to the point where it's either surgery that has to be very extensive or chemotherapy, or it's far already spread disease and only palliative care and the urologist has nothing to do here anymore, because also. Our role, I think, our role, your role, the role of the media, is to make people aware that an oncologist may be a person who does not immediately mean treatment, does not immediately mean chemotherapy, does not immediately mean that hair is going to fall out and we are going to lie at the doctor's every time there is a suspicion or an early stage of the disease. It is worthwhile, however, to be referred to an oncology facility and not wander from doctor to doctor. And the fact that some of the care in Poland takes place in private practices is such. This is the situation. There are not enough specialists. Oncology facilities, urology departments do not always have the number of doctors and places available.

Monika Rachtan
We're getting more and more cancer, which is also worth bearing in mind. But just as you said that we are afraid of the clinical oncologist, the moment we read, for example, on the diagnosis of malignant neoplasm, many, many of us probably start writing our wills, because we think that this is the end, that there is no salvation, and in many cases this diagnosis is a diagnosis, which of course is binding and carries certain consequences, but before that, the action introduced. In general, the fact that we have this diagnosis is already the beginning of this path of ours, this ladder that is now in front of us, and it is really possible to climb to the top of this ladder and stand upright.

Anna Kupiecka
The earlier we detect cancerous lesions, the better for us and the longer our path will be, for the reason that early recognised disease can be treated in various ways. Often, in the case of prostate cancer, the patient can be managed for a long, long time without intervention, without drug or surgical intervention, just under observation. But the key is this early diagnosis. That is why in all other cancers we talk about the fact that the development of medicine, the development of drug therapies, surgery is making it better and better. It is simply causing us to live longer and longer with cancer and to achieve a greater and greater amount of total survival. Also, robotic surgery has also contributed a great deal. You have also talked about this in your work, in your activities, so there is really nothing to be afraid of. The most important thing is that we tame our fears. And the effect of which will be to come forward for preventive examinations, to see a urologist or an oncologist early on. However, unfortunately, in the case of prostate cancer, the mortality rate is also rising in Poland. As is the case with most cancers, with many cancers, we are at the tail end of Europe in terms of mortality, and it is rising. This is also the case with breast cancer.

Monika Rachtan
These statistics in Poland are difficult and are due to the fact that we are often afraid to undertake treatment. In fact, we underestimate the importance of diagnostic tests, while it turns out, and what you can read already in the first sentences of this guide which lies before you, Anna, that prostate cancer detected early is a cancer which in most cases can be completely cured. Only as you said, diagnosis is very important and a very important role in controlling prostate cancer or prostate hypertrophy is the function of the PSA Test. These today can be done in a laboratory, but they are also available in pharmacies. We can go and buy such a test, perform it at home.

Anna Kupiecka
There are also tests that are available at home. This monitoring of PSA levels in patients, even if only those at risk, is extremely important. If we know that there has been a family history of prostate cancer, it is worth Prostate.

Monika Rachtan
But not only. Also other female cancers here.

Anna Kupiecka
There is now more and more such a holistic approach to these. It's maybe agnosticism she said to these cancers, because there are cancers that are very independent, like breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, so a mutation occurring in a woman who has had breast cancer can tell us that there is also a risk of BRCA-dependent prostate cancer. And so it is indeed cool. It's great that there are already tests like this that you can do yourself at home, but also in the 40+ prevention programme. Such a test. For men is offered, but the turnout is low.

Monika Rachtan
How often should men exercise their dog? And I now know that this is a recommendation.

Anna Kupiecka
Let's leave it at that. Let's leave it at that. Let's leave it to the doctors.

Monika Rachtan
Then maybe at least tell me on which birthday it's worth making such a gift to yourself for the first time.

Anna Kupiecka
Birthdays. For every birthday over the age of 45, it is already worthwhile to do such a study. We will always have the opportunity to refer to some level, also this monitoring and knowledge about our body. There is never too much of a screening programme in prostate cancer. This thing is not as simple as in breast cancer. In mammography or cytology, in cervical cancer or other gynaecological cancers, cytology. Programmes now fortunately have extended age ranges in Poland, so women have clear guidelines in the case of prostate cancer. This is not the case. However, I wanted to add one thing here, because you said that cancer detected early can be completely cured. Yes, but it is still important that the average age of onset is quite late. This is why doctors often say something that always makes me optimistic. That prostate cancer, despite being diagnosed, can be treated for so long that it will not cause death. Yes, there is multi-morbidity in patients as they get older and it is very often the case that if a patient is diagnosed early, managed well, they are so managed by the doctor over the years that prostate cancer is not the cause of death, death.

Anna Kupiecka
Dying because of age or otherwise.

Monika Rachtan
And I also read about a study like this which just said that if you examined patients who were dying from various causes, whether it was a heart attack or a stroke, we would also find this very prostate cancer in many of them, even though it had not been diagnosed in them. Well, but it just turned out that it was not the cause of death in this person. So again, proof that you can actually control this cancer very well. But Anna, let's go back to the Onkocafe activities and to these meetings, which are very important, which will be held in 10 cities in Poland. From what I remember correct me if I am wrong. Katowice, Bydgoszcz, Wrocław, Gniezno, Warsaw in the top five, then other cities.

Anna Kupiecka
Then more cities. The schedule for the second five is being created as we will be in ten. The dates for these five meetings are already available on our social media 15 We are 15 June Katowice next, then Bydgoszcz 6 July, before that 22nd Wrocław, 29 June Wrocław. You can already sign up for these meetings and we encourage people to sign up, not only patients, but also people who accompany, because the task of these meetings. Of course, these are individual meetings with the doctor, the oncologist. To address what I said, there are long appointments, that patients often have to wait too long and they get anxious, so we give back the opportunity to meet. It is not an appointment with a doctor, but it is an appointment with a doctor. Such a second consultation where the doctor can help, explain, better, understand this conversation, this disease. Therefore, people accompanying the sick person can come. If the patient's condition does not allow it. It is the accompanying persons who often play this role of manager in the person's illness, and they are often the ones who manage and sometimes know much, much more. They read the documentation with understanding.

Anna Kupiecka
Patients sometimes push away, do not want to read, do not want to familiarise themselves. It is already a heavy burden for them, physically, or their physical condition simply does not allow it. This is why the role of the loved one is crucial here. Whether it's a son, a daughter, a friend, someone who helps the patient through all this, these people too. Yes, because when the patient is ill, the whole family is ill. We often say this, but we are also seeing more and more that older people are accompanied by younger people when they are ill.

Monika Rachtan
I, in order to encourage you to go to such a one-to-one meeting with an ecologist, will say that you will sit with this doctor in the same conditions as we sit. There will be no microphones or cameras, of course, but it will be a doctor's office where you are free to ask questions, where you are free to talk. This is not an event where we sit in chairs. We raise our hand and ask the doctor a question.

Anna Kupiecka
Not group, but individual meetings in the office, so that the intimacy of this conversation is maintained. Silence, stillness, Time to. To. To have a longer time to really talk or clarify, to broaden one's knowledge in this area. And perhaps someone is under the care of a urologist and there is no need to go to an oncology facility yet. He or she is in some kind of urology department or outpatient clinic, which means he or she would like to learn more, find out about the future, find out what else might be waiting for him or her. Also, we warmly encourage you to do so. In addition, this will be an event that will not only involve a visit to the surgery, but also a representative from our foundation will be there. Educational materials. For patients, an opportunity to talk, an opportunity to expand their knowledge. We have our prevention ambassadors in different regions. They will also accompany patients there. Of course, these will be educational materials not only about prostate cancer, but also about other cancers. We also encourage them.

Monika Rachtan
These are one-to-one appointments, but can I take my dad and come with him to such an appointment? And we will actually be able to sit down with urology in this office and talk to.

Anna Kupiecka
Oncology.

Monika Rachtan
From oncology?

Anna Kupiecka
Yes, yes, as much as possible.

Monika Rachtan
You said, Anne, that these will be one-to-one appointments, but I wanted to ask if I can take my dad and come to such an appointment and we can sit and talk together in this oncologist's office?

Anna Kupiecka
Well, that's exactly what, that's what we're all about, organising these appointments so that a family who maybe doesn't have time during the week to go, so that there's no opportunity until now, or there are some early symptoms and the patient doesn't have a diagnosis yet, but there are symptoms, there are symptoms, that's what you can do on a Saturday. Most of these appointments will be on Saturdays or afternoons. You can come in two people and together in the surgery discuss, ask questions and find out what should be done.

Monika Rachtan
And I would like to add that in the description of this video you will of course find a link to a form where you can sign up for the meetings in the very five cities that Anna and I mentioned, which I strongly encourage you to do. But remember that Onkocafe not only organises these meetings all over Poland, but it is also active every day for oncology patients, including those with prostate cancer, and various meetings take place at the foundation's headquarters. These are meetings with a psychologist, with a dietician, also with doctors. Can prostate cancer patients also attend such meetings?

Anna Kupiecka
Yes, we have men who benefit from yoga or Nordic walking classes, for example. And when they are, it is mostly that patients come to these dedicated meetings with an expert. That is, if we have a meeting on breast cancer, then we have a predominance of women, But at the meeting for patients with prostate cancer or with suspected cancer there were a lot of women also, yes. And that shows us that this education is needed more widely both to relatives and to the patients themselves. I just wanted to add that you can also register for the meeting by calling the foundation. You can call us, if anyone has difficulty accessing the internet, has difficulty signing up through the online form, then feel free to call us.

Monika Rachtan
For these meetings. All over the country you can also sign up over the phone. I also think from what I remember, if you write to the foundation's email address, because the form is not obvious for us to use, all this information goes to the foundation's secretariat and the patients. Then you will get back to inform the patients where exactly.

Anna Kupiecka
We will be making appointments for specific times. Because this appointment will last about eight hours, but patients will be respectful of their time, we will simply make appointments for approximate times, so that hopefully the gentlemen can also meet there, so that they can talk, but the queue will be fixed.

Speaker 3
Anne, you have been for years.

Monika Rachtan
You observe the environment of oncology patients. I accompany the patients. Tell me, why is it so important for us to socialise? To meet other patients, so that we just come to paint pictures together or to the yoga for patients that you organise. Why is this so important?

Anna Kupiecka
These experiences of breast cancer patients, that is, of this community, which was the earliest to integrate and undertake the most common activities. They show what an important role the presence of other patients plays in a patient's life - the possibility of sharing, the possibility of exchanging information, the possibility of just such a feeling that I am also accompanied by someone who has gone through a similar path as me. She gives great reinforcement. There are girls who were with us ten years ago and come back again, for example because of relapses or because of some other changes in their lives that have occurred to them. It's the feeling of such closeness and peace of mind that I'm in some kind of environment of my own, it just makes a person stronger. And often it's just practical advice on where to go to the doctor, where to get a wig or what tests to do. Patients exchange facilities, names of establishments, other information. Also the company of patients is very empowering and I hope, and I see more and more, that patients with other cancers, including men, want to get involved in these patient activities and are interested in getting together. Also it's hugely significant, because 7 years ago, 6 years ago, when we took this up, there was quite a significant disengagement though.

Anna Kupiecka
And at the moment there is a readiness and openness our the role of physical activity, the role of nutrition, the role of psychological aspects in going through the disease. It has also evolved over the last few years. We are now aware that these are not all side nonsense, they are essential elements of the healing process and the healing process, the process, the stage of healing. Because often this healing takes a long, long time and great and longer and longer. Therefore, what we can do for ourselves is to support ourselves in caring about nutrition, in caring about our emotional state. It is in caring for our physical state, i.e. rehabilitation, gymnastics, that all of this strengthens us and allows us to get through the treatment process better and better, which often puts an enormous strain on the body.
Monika Rachtan
The voice of patients in the public health debate is very important. Your voice has been heard for many years. You make sure that patients in Poland have access to modern therapies. You talk about the fact that treatment does not only include medicines, but also patient care, which should be in line with the latest knowledge and standards. We should look after patients as we would like to be looked after. Tell me, is the voice of a patient like Mr John, who comes to the doctor and doesn't really know what the treatment should be, doesn't know how to make a decision, the doctor asks him if he wants this or that, is it worth taking the floor to discuss his health?

Anna Kupiecka
It is always worth speaking up for your health. The enormity of our education is exactly that. Let me mention breast cancer patients. Many years of education and the activities of many wonderful foundations and associations show that the breast cancer patient community is integrated. Society is becoming more and more educated, and as a result, patients in the doctor's office are a better partner. They follow the doctor's recommendations better, they go through the treatment pathway more easily, they are more knowledgeable, i.e. they ask less, they try to acquire more of this knowledge themselves, which is widely available. We need to translate this pattern to other cancers. Everyone would like to and seems to fight themselves. Sometimes, however, when the moment of severe illness comes, we feel like a mute child in the doctor's office. We don't know what to do and we would like someone to do everything for us and solve our problems. This is not possible. The doctor is not able to take care of us holistically, hence our actions.

Anna Kupiecka
We are fighting for oncology in Poland to change, because it can be influenced by making things easier for doctors and patients by improving the organisation of oncological care. The National Oncology Network, which will soon be implemented in Poland, is being worked on by a number of experts and specialists, also from our National Oncology Federation. We are involved in the work on updating these solutions. We will develop a model that will better guide the patient, coordinate the patient. The patient pathway will be in line with global and Polish guidelines, which are based on global guidelines. So that we do not waste time, money and human lives. It is always worth acting, it is always worth speaking out. Every voice is important, because together we build. It may sound pathetic, but in practice I see how much has changed in the organisation of oncology care thanks to the dialogue between the communities of doctors, coordinators, nurses, patients, patient organisations, the system, donors, legislators, the patient ombudsman and all stakeholders.

Anna Kupiecka
Indeed, a great deal has changed and I hope that we can change a lot also in the perception and treatment of prostate cancer patients.

Monika Rachtan
Today we would like to remind you that such a specialist group does not only include the urologist. Anne, summarise who else takes care of a prostate cancer patient with suspected prostate cancer. Who should be on the consilium and does the patient know that the consilium is taking place? What should it look like?

Anna Kupiecka
I hope patients know, because for patients with breast cancer or gynaecological cancers it is a bit different. In the case of prostate cancer, nobody studies it, we don't check it. We only know from the data that a few tens of percent of the consilium in oncology does not take place for various reasons. But it is known that there has to be a radiology consultation, an oncology consultation, there has to be a coordinator who should manage the patient in most oncology facilities, in every oncology facility. The coordinators are different, it might be a little bit more difficult if the patient is treated in an oncology clinic, a urology clinic or a urology department, rather than an oncology facility, a National Cancer Institute or another oncology facility that has all these specialists on site.

Monika Rachtan
Onkocafe will organise 10 meetings with an oncologist for you this year. During these one-to-one discussions, you will be able to ask about anything that concerns you, bring your medical records with you, show the doctor what stage of diagnosis or treatment you are at. Remember that these doctors in these 10 cities in Poland are there for you. The Onkocafe Foundation has been taking care of prostate cancer patients for the past seven years with its "Prostate Story" campaign. Once again, I encourage you to register for an appointment with a clinical oncologist just by using the form or the telephone. Write, call, fill in the form. The staff of the Onkocafe Foundation are there for you. Anne, thank you very much for our conversation today. This was the programme "Patient First". I invite you to subscribe to my channel. My name is Monika Rachtan and thank you very much for today.