8-Year’s Experience of Ukrainian Reference Laboratory for Diagnosis of Acute Leukemias in Children

In Ukraine malignant diseases of hemopoietic and lymphoid tissues rank first among childhood malignant diseases (45-50% of all the cases of childhood cancers). The contribution of such diseases in cancer incidence of adult population is not less significant, ranking forth among males and ninth among females. To date 32 specialized hematological departments are available at the city and regional hospitals of Ukraine with 367 specialists in hematology on the staff. The high efficacy of the treatment of leukemia and other malignancies of hemopoietic and lymphoid tissues could be attained only on the basis of up-to-date technologies including bone marrow transplantation implying the precise and timely diagnosis. Unfortunately, until recently the accomplishment of the objectives of the state-in-the-arts diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma in Ukraine has run into the difficulties due to insufficient funding as well as the lack of the well-trained personnel.