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BACKGROUND Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the second most common malignant neoplasms among children worldwide. The current paper aims to analyze the situation in pediatric neuro-oncology in Armenia from the neurosurgical perspective. METHODS We have collected data of pediatric patients with CNS tumors treated in the Neurosurgery department of “Surb Astvasamayr” Medical Center from 01.01.2010 till 01.12.2019. Incidence by gender, age at diagnosis, and histopathology results were calculated. Survival rates were calculated based on the follow-up results performed until 30.12.2019. RESULTS Hospital-based data showed that during the previous 10 years 47 patients with CNS tumors received neurosurgical treatment in the unit, among them 66% were females. 38.3%, 31.9% and 29.8% of diagnosed patients were aged 0–4, 5–9, and 10–18 respectively. In 41 cases, the disease was not disseminated at diagnosis. The most common observed malignancies were low-grade gliomas (21.3%) and embryonal tumors (19.1%), followed by high-grade gliomas (14.9%) and ependymal tumors (8.5%). Follow-up information only for 33 patients is available. From them, 14 are dead and 19 alive. Survival rates in most common groups were 62.5%, 80%, 50%, and 50% respectively. The median follow-up time was 18 months (range 1–113 months). CONCLUSION Similar to the data reported in the literature, low-grade gliomas, and embryonal tumors are the most frequent pediatric CNS tumors in Armenia. On the other hand, the pediatric CNS tumor survival rates are lower compared to those reported in developed countries.

The clinical efficacy of curcumin has not yet been established for the treatment of cancer, despite a large body of evidence from numerous preclinical studies suggesting the therapeutic potential of curcumin, particularly in a synergistic combination with paclitaxel. The main obstacle in using curcumin for adjunctive cancer therapy is its low bioavailability via oral administration.We assessed the efficacy and safety of intravenous curcumin infusion in combination with paclitaxel in patients with metastatic and advanced breast cancer.A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparative clinical study was conducted.A total of 150 women with advanced and metastatic breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive either paclitaxel (80 mg/mThe intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis revealed that the ORR of curcumin was significantly higher than that of the placebo (51% vs. 33%, p0.01) at 4 weeks of follow-up. The difference between the groups was even greater when only patients who had completed the treatment (61% vs. 38%, odds ratio ==2.64, p0.01) were included. A superior effect of curcumin vs placebo was observed in both patients who had completed the treatment and all patients included in the ITT analysis, 3 months after termination of the treatment. No other significant differences were observed between the curcumin and the placebo groups, except for fatigue (3 vs. 10 patients, respectively; odds ratio ==3.7, p = 0.05). However, the patients' self-assessed overall physical performance was significantly higher with curcumin than the placebo during the treatment and at the end of the follow-up, suggesting better tolerance in the curcumin group.Overall, treatment with curcumin in combination with paclitaxel was superior to the paclitaxel-placebo combination with respect to ORR and physical performance after 12 weeks of treatment. Intravenously administered curcumin caused no major safety issues and no reduction in quality of life, and it may be beneficial in reducing fatigue.This is the first clinical study to explore the efficacy and safety of administering curcumin intravenously in combination with chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer patients.

Armenia became an independent state after breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991. After considerable derangements in the first independence decade, the country's healthcare system has seen some progress recently in terms of improving existing and developing new services, diversification of financing, with the introduction of public benefits, private domain and health insurance. The Information and Communication Technologies sector is one of the country's most dynamically developing and competitive industries. Despite that, Armenia has had modest achievements in eHealth and telemedicine so far. Centralized eHealth policy, administration and infrastructure are as yet absent, Health Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and applications are very slowly making their way into mainstream healthcare practices, and there are few regular telemedicine activities. Some revival of the field in the recent years is primarily related to consistent efforts by the authorities to develop eHealth, and the emergence of the national professional organization – Armenian Association of Telemedicine (AATM).

Biomedical Engineering (BME) is a modern and dynamic specialty that is predicted to grow over the next decades, partly due to increasing penetration of technological processes and devices into the healthcare system and medical practice, education and research. BME education is regarded as an important tool to support development of healthcare systems and medical industry. BME education in Armenia has been present at certain higher education institutions (HEIs) for some period of time, however the existing study programs need to be updated according to modern standards and practices, and the capacity of the institutions delivering the program needs to be expanded. The 3-year curriculum development project ”Biomedical Engineering Education Tempus Initiative in Eastern Neighboring Area” (BME-ENA) financed through the EU’s Tempus IV funding instrument, involves 17 institutions from 11 EU and ENA countries and is aimed primarily at development and implementation of an innovative joint MSc program in BME amongst the participating universities. Armenia is represented by two leading HEIs – the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA), and the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (RAU), and an NGO working in the field of medical technologies – Armenian Association of Telemedicine (AATM). The project team from Armenia has by now held several working meetings locally and with the international partners, which have resulted in development of the new curriculum outline for the joint BME program, incorporating approaches and recommendations of the European project partners. The BME-ENA project is expected to provide an important platform for modernizing BME education in Armenia and bringing it in accordance with current European standards.

Summary Purpose To assess resources and management strategies for the use of radiotherapy (RT) in the treatment of lung cancer in developing Central and Eastern European countries. Materials/methods Questionnaires on patterns of care of NSCLC and SCLC were sent to radiation oncologists of Central and Eastern Europe. Comparisons were made between two groups of countries-ex-USSR states and other Eastern and Central European countries. Results Twenty-four out of twenty-eight surveyed countries responded. There were significant differences in access to modern treatment facilities (3D planning systems, number of linear accelerators), percentage of patients with lung cancer receiving radiotherapy, schedules of palliative RT, use of postoperative RT for early stages between both analysed groups of countries. 3D systems were in use in 25% of centres for an entire treatment, in 28% for a part of the treatment, and in 47% curative RT was 2D planned. Sequential chemo-RT was the most common approach to radical management of NSCLC, followed by RT alone and concomitant chemo-RT; median percentages of patients receiving respective treatments per centre were 57%, 30%, and 10%. For SCLC, the concurrent approach was declared by 56%, and the sequential approach by 42% of responders. Conclusions Patterns of care of lung cancer in the analysed countries differed in some part from existing, evidence-based data on lung cancer. In particular, this difference was observed between ex-USSR countries and the rest of European developing countries in the equipment available and specific diagnostic and treatment parameters in radiotherapy of lung cancer, the latter group's practices more resembling those of developed European countries.