National Center for Treatment of Musculoskeletal Tumors

The Comprehensive Centre for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Tumours is one of three official centres of this type established at the instigation of the Czech Society for Orthopaedics and Traumatology in cooperation with the Czech Oncological Society. It constitutes a pillar of healthcare system in our country.

The formation of super-specialised centres is a well-established trend in medical care of developed countries. With the advancement of medicine and increasing complexity of modern medical care, it is only logical that rare and therapeutically intricate diagnoses are being concentrated in these centres. This not only ensures a more efficient allocation of valuable healthcare resources, but above all, these centres guarantee an unrivalled quality of care in the Czech Republic.

One of the most important positive prognostic factors for a successful treatment of these rare diseases is to treat the patient in a specialised centre from the very beginning.

„It is impossible and unethical for a physician to guarantee cure. However it is his honoured duty to do the absolute maximum to achieve this goal and to constantly push for improvement“

Chief of the center
MUDr. Jan Lesenský, MD, Ph.D.

More on the centre:

The orthopaedic clinic at the University Hospital Bulovka has the longest tradition not only in Czech Republic, but is also one of the oldest in Europe. In the 1970s, professor Matějovský was an internationally recognised authority and one of the fifteen founding members of the European Musculo-Skeletal Oncology Society (E.M.S.O.S.). The Bulovka Centre of Musculoskeletal oncology belongs to the pioneering centres in European context. It was here that first chemotherapy for bone tumours was administered and the centre played an important role in shaping the basic rules of treatment that are still in effect today. One of key principles of modern medicine is international cooperation, which has been cultivated at our clinic since its foundation and we have long-lasting personal contacts with foreign peers (Bologna, Padua, Vienna, Gratz, Athens, New York, Tel Aviv and many others). Foreign education is one of the conditions for professional growth and it is also admirable that the generational continuity of education has been sustained without interruption.

The Orthopaedic Clinic at Bulovka is the largest and most comprehensive orthopaedic department in the Czech Republic. It is also the only institution that covers the full spectrum of orthopaedic surgery and the physicians here are able to deal with tumours in any location of the human body. The clinic has six wards, 148 beds and a 24/7 service including surgical theatres. The operating theatres were completely renovated in 2006 and have a full range of modern technologies including neuromonitoring, perioperative CT, surgical navigation, etc.

The Bulovka University Hospital also houses the largest radiation oncology unit in the Czech Republic, which has a direct connection to the Proton Centre within the hospital premises. It also houses several other certified specialty oncology centres (Urooncology Centre, Oncogynecology Centre, Pneumooncology Centre). We also collaborate closely with vascular and plastic surgery. The A&E departments with the Emergency Department are equipped with the latest technology including ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) and thus provide a resourceful and proffesional background for even the most complex multi-hour surgeries.

A full spectrum of modern diagnostic methods are available in the hospital complex (two MRI machines, two HRCTs, a Nuclear Medicine Department including positron emission tomography imaging). A dedicated soft tissue tumour Sonography service is available every Thursday. Interventional radiologists perform CT-guided biopsies and pre-operative tumour embolizations, and also radiofrequency ablations.

The National Centre for Treatment of Musculoskeletal Tumours offers interdisciplinary cooperation at the highest possible level and a well-founded, super-specialised team of experts, thanks to which Bulovka University Hospital is able to provide integrated patient care competitive to the top centres abroad.