TEHRAN - The health ministry is set to launch the national cancer care network in early autumn, aiming to integrate fragmented cancer treatment services into a coordinated, team-based, and traceable care pathway.

The initiative aims to ensure that the patients entering the network follow a clear path through the stages of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, without the need for patients to go to various centers, ISNA quoted Ali Motlaq, an official with the health ministry, as saying.

No new medical center is planned to be built; the network will benefit from available capacities to connect specialized physicians and medical centers. Based on the type of cancer, the center’s capacity, the patient’s place of residence, and other defined criteria, the patients would be referred to the best center and medical team, he noted.

The activities of the network focus on enhancing the quality of care, improving access, and reducing the financial burden of care on patients. Standardization of clinical pathways, systematic referral, teamwork and multidisciplinary decision-making, capacity management of centers, early diagnosis, patient navigation, and the electronic recording and monitoring of care pathways will also be among key components of the program, the official highlighted.

According to Motlaq, free cancer treatment does not mean unconditional access to cancer-related services and all medications free of charge in public and private sectors. The program aims to minimize patients’ out-of-pocket costs for covered services in the public sector, and in specific cases, without paying any money directly.

Recording the information of patients, their referrals and follow-ups, and the received care will help clarify a patient’s current situation, whether they have received required services, and who or what center is responsible for the next step in their treatment, he said.

The official went on to say that the program will also consider incentives for specialists and centers that join the network and accept its standards such as recording essential information, adherence to clinical pathways, participation in patient referral and follow-up, and accountability for the quality of provided services.

The first phase of the program will commence by focusing on breast cancer. The qualified centers and service providers will be identified, and the actual capacity of the services will be determined. After early detection, initial assessment through imaging, biopsy, and pathology, if cancer is confirmed, the treatment will begin, Motlaq said.

Ultimately, the success of the network should not be measured merely by the number of services provided or patients registered. The fundamental question is whether the patient received standard care—at the right time, in the right place, and from the right team, with minimal financial and administrative barriers—and if their journey to the next stage of care was fully traced.

The program aims to cover other top priority cancers in the country by the end of the current Iranian year, March 2027, he added.

According to the health ministry, cancers are the leading causes of premature mortality in the country.

They account for more than 55 thousand deaths annually. Some 34 thousand deaths out of 122 thousand premature deaths (under 70 years of age) and 11 thousand deaths out of 85 thousand very premature deaths (under 50 years of age) are caused by various cancers.

The first 10 most common cancers in Iran are breast, prostate, colon, stomach, lung, bladder, thyroid, uterus, brain, and spine cancers. The most common cancers of Iranian women include breast, colon, thyroid, stomach, uterine, leukemia, ovary, brain and spine, lung, and esophagus.

Early detection through screening will increase the chance of successful treatment and improve the life expectancy of the patients.

Fortunately, Iran is among the countries with advanced cancer treatment technology. This year, an Iranian knowledge-based company managed to develop a nanotechnology diagnostic kit for early detection of antigens associated with helicobacter pylori, which is the most frequent cause of chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer, and stomach cancer.

The achievement will reduce dependence on imported products, enhance the screening system, improve patient access to diagnostic services, and lower healthcare system costs.

Launching the first national production line for electroporation systems in 2025, Iran became the first country in Asia to acquire advanced cancer treatment technology.

Electroporation is highly efficient in the treatment of various types of cancer, such as skin cancer, such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a common type of skin cancer that develops in the flat cells of the upper layer of the skin, melanoma, and breast cancer.

More than a thousand patients have been treated so far using this therapy; in more than 200 cases, successful treatment has prevented the need for amputation.

New cancer treatment hospital inaugurated in Tehran

In June, a new cancer treatment hospital equipped with more than 600 beds was inaugurated in Tehran. Affiliated with the Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex and run by the Cancer Institute of Iran, the hospital is comprised of education, research, diagnosis and treatment sections, ISNA reported.

The hospital has also 103 special beds, 19 operating rooms, 6 homecare beds, and 12 emergency beds.

The history of the Cancer Institute dates back to 1949, when a cancer hospital was established as a result of a collaborative agreement between Tehran University Medical School and the Red Crescent Society.

The hospital provided surgical, pathological, and outpatient services to cancer patients nationwide.

In 1950, the radiotherapy unit was established and one year later, under an agreement with the World Health Organization, the first cobalt unit in the Institute was established and radiotherapeutic services were provided to patients.

In 1960, cytotechnology and in 1962 experimental units were added to the hospital. By 1970, when it was renamed the Cancer Institute of Iran, it was fully equipped and included pathology, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, medical genetics, and an experimental research laboratory.

Now the Cancer Institute consists of 14 departments and acts as a leading center in campaigns involving all aspects of cancer control, from generating population data (population-based cancer registry) to state-of-the-art patient care at a national level.

Annually, about 10,000 cancer patients receive inpatient and outpatient care in different departments of the Cancer Institute of Iran.

MT/MG