Serbia expands cancer treatment access

From October 1st, around 1,000 patients in Serbia with lung cancer will gain access to new, modern therapies intended to extend their lives and improve disease control.

The Serbian health ministry will make immunotherapy available to three new groups of patients, including those with limited and extensive stages of small cell lung cancer, and stage III lung cancer that cannot be surgically removed.

Starting next spring, another 600 patients with squamous cell lung cancer, currently treated only with chemotherapy, are expected to receive immunotherapy. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from malignant diseases in Serbia, with nearly 7,000 new cases and 5,000 deaths annually. The disease has become the leading cause of death for women in the country in the last two years, making timely access to therapy critical.

However, 70 percent of lung cancer patients in Serbia are diagnosed at a metastatic stage, when treatment options are limited. This is often because early symptoms, like cough, fatigue, or shortness of breath, are easily dismissed, especially by smokers. Dr.

Dragana Vujičić, assistant minister of health, stated that this is “a big and important step, first of all for patients and their families, but also for our health system.” She explained that the new regulations on approved drugs will provide healthcare professionals with a new range of treatments for non-small cell and small cell lung cancer in various stages, bringing Serbia in line with major European centers.

Doctors will apply the new therapies to different forms of small cell lung cancer based on the disease's stage.