Oncology Department

The Oncology Department Jihlava is one of 15 oncology departments in the Czech Republic, which hold the status of a Comprehensive Oncology Centre (Bulletin of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic No.7/2020).

Comprehensive oncology centres have been defined within the National Oncology Programme of the Czech Society of Oncology CSL JEP. Each centre must meet the specified personnel, material, technical and organisational criteria. These centres form the base of the cancer care network in the Czech Republic and provide the latest available care that is approved in the Czech Republic.

COG Jihlava, together with the workplaces in H. Brod, Pelhřimov, Třebíč and Nové Město na Moravě, formed the Regional Oncology Group Vysočina in 2016 and provide most of the diagnostics and treatment for adult oncology patients in the Vysočina Region. The structure and functioning of the group correspond to the requirements for a regional oncology network, as defined by the Ministry of Health Bulletin No. 13/2017.

The Oncology Department of the Hospital Jihlava provides comprehensive oncological care (cancer diagnostics, cytostatic, biological and hormonal treatment, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, supportive and palliative treatment and dispensary care) for adult patients with virtually all types of solid malignant tumours. We are also involved in the treatment of certain hematological malignancies (Hodgkin's lymphoma, NH lymphomas). Treatment is provided on an outpatient and inpatient basis.

The Oncology Department employs 17 physicians, of whom 6 physicians have specialized competence in radiation oncology, 7 physicians in clinical oncology and 4 physicians are in preparation for certification.

The outpatient tract is divided into a dispensary, a consoliary, 3 clinical oncology clinics and a chemotherapy inpatient clinic. The inpatient ward has 2 application rooms with 1 bed and 9 chairs for outpatient administration of chemotherapy. The inpatient ward operates on weekdays, and on weekends a doctor in the inpatient ward and staff of the inpatient ward provide round-the-clock care for chemotherapy patients. Dispensary care is provided to lifelong treated patients either alone or in cooperation with other specialist departments of the Hospital Jihlava.

Patients with selected hematological malignancies are treated and dispensed in the haematooncology clinic.

The Oncology Department has developed local standards of treatment, which correspond to the procedures developed by professional societies and are in line with national and international recommendations and standards. Decisions on the treatment of patients are made in multidisciplinary teams that meet regularly on a weekly basis with the participation of relevant experts according to the type of tumour and treatment under discussion.

Since 2006, the department has been contractually approved to administer highly specialised and expensive biological treatment and immunotherapy for a number of tumours. The number of agents and their use is constantly expanding.

The inpatient section has 35 standard beds (rooms have 2-3 beds with private bathroom) and is shared by patients treated with systemic therapy and radiotherapy. The inpatient section is provided with a continuous medical service. Within the emergency medicine pavilion, 2 intensive internal care beds are allocated for oncology patients to treat possible complications of treatment.

The radiation treatment tract has been repeatedly modernized and continuously equipped with the latest radiation technology. The current technical equipment consists of 2 linear accelerators Truebeam by. Varian with the possibility of radiation by IMRT, IGRT, VMAT, stereotactic RT and respiratory gating, CT-simulator and equipment for application of brachytherapy Bravos. The devices fully comply with the requirements of the Atomic Act and the professional society SROBF for performing curative radiotherapy. Within the Vysočina Region, this workplace is the only one capable of providing curative radiation therapy (it concerns mainly gynaecological, urological and digestive tract tumours, as well as breast, lung and head and neck tumours). Patients are treated with radiation on an outpatient basis and during hospitalisation. There is a radiation oncology outpatient clinic adjacent to the radiotherapy tract, which also has daily operations.

We provide some highly specialized treatment methods by cooperating with the Brno Medical University and Prague-Motol Hospital. In the care of patients with haematological malignancies, we cooperate with the Internal Haemato-Oncology Clinic in Brno-Bohunice.

Every year, the Oncology Department organises a national conference on various oncological and gynaecological topics together with the Gynaecology Department, and we organise regional seminars on oncological topics with the participation of leading Czech experts in the field of oncology. We participate in national and international clinical trials and carry out publication and lecture activities according to the current possibilities.

The Oncology Department is accredited by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic for full postgraduate education in both radiation oncology and clinical oncology.