AACR on Campus Poland–Ukraine: A Shared Commitment to Advancing Ukrainian Oncology

For Ukraine, strengthening cancer care during the war means more than keeping treatment accessible. It also means supporting the researchers and clinicians who are shaping a stronger oncology system today — one that will carry forward long after the war ends.

AACR on Campus Poland–Ukraine, held August 6–7 in Warsaw, was a meaningful step in that effort — made possible by the strength of the collaborators behind it. Organized by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA) Ukraine, and the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, the program brought together 100 clinicians and researchers from Ukraine and Poland alongside international experts in oncology, cancer research, and health policy.

Its significance, though, extends far beyond the conference itself. For Ukrainian participants, it opened doors to mentorship, joint research, and grant opportunities — and gave them a platform to bring their own data, clinical experience, and research questions to the international stage.

"This conference is especially important to us because it brought together proactive clinicians, researchers, and healthcare leaders who are already providing high-quality care to their patients while also being ready to take on greater responsibility — strengthening their institutions and helping drive change in cancer care in their countries," said Inesa Huivaniuk, MD, MPA, surgical oncologist and Co-Executive Director of GMKA Ukraine.

For international partners, the program was also a chance to see firsthand the conditions Ukrainian and Polish healthcare professionals are working in today, and to identify together where research, collaboration, and support are most needed.

"As a neighboring country, Poland has supported Ukraine for many years — not only by providing medical care, but also by expanding research collaboration and strengthening partnerships between hospitals. Many Ukrainian colleagues now work in our hospitals, so our countries and institutions are closely connected," said Iwona Ługowska, MD, PhD, Professor and Head of the Centre of Excellence for Precision Oncology at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology.

That exchange is by design. "AACR on Campus is a very informal, intimate event. It is an educational program, and what we hope to do is foster cultural exchange and the sharing of the different contexts in which we do research and treat patients, in different countries and cities. Hopefully, we can learn from each other," said Frédéric Biemar, PhD, Vice President and Head of Education at the American Association for Cancer Research.

For Ukrainian clinicians and researchers, improving the quality of care carries a weight that goes beyond professional ambition — it is tied directly to what patients can access and how quickly they are diagnosed and treated. Events like AACR on Campus offer direct exposure to international expertise, methods, and networks that can be brought back into everyday clinical and research work.

Iryna Dudchenko, MD, Associate Professor at Sumy State University and a practicing hematologist in the frontline city of Sumy, is studying how the war has delayed diagnosis of multiple myeloma. In her own clinic, she is seeing more patients whose disease is caught at advanced stages.

"Our work has become more difficult, in part because many patients are now diagnosed at later stages of hematologic malignancies. We work amid constant air-raid alerts and logistical challenges, and sometimes treatment has to be postponed. That is why it is especially important for us to find ways to diagnose disease earlier and improve treatment outcomes," she said.

Her research now focuses on tools that could help primary care physicians recognize possible multiple myeloma earlier — work that becomes more actionable through international collaboration, as Ukrainian researchers learn how other health systems approach the same problem while contributing their own data to the field.

"Despite all the challenges, we continue to work, continue to live, and want to remain in our cities. Programs like this give us an opportunity not only to gain new knowledge, but also to see that major international professional organizations understand the circumstances in which we work and are prepared to support change in Ukraine," Dr. Dudchenko added.

The program's poster session gave that kind of locally rooted research a wider audience. Anna Karavska, MD, won the award for her research on access to and quality of cancer care in Ukraine, including gaps in the healthcare system and the war's impact on oncology services — earning a travel award to present at the AACR Annual Meeting in Florida in 2027.

"I am incredibly happy and sincerely grateful to AACR for this opportunity. I will do everything I can to represent Ukraine and remind our international colleagues of the importance of continuing to strengthen our collaboration to improve the quality of cancer care in Ukraine, especially during the war," she said, adding that expanding clinical trials in Ukraine remains a priority: "They give patients access to the newest — and sometimes the only effective — innovative therapies, while giving Ukrainian physicians the opportunity to work according to global standards of cancer care."

Ukrainian clinicians are not only learning from this exchange — they are shaping it. Their experience of maintaining cancer care through blackouts, displacement, and attacks on infrastructure holds lessons for healthcare systems well beyond Ukraine.

"Partnership with Ukrainian colleagues is important not only as an expression of solidarity and support. We are also learning a great deal from Ukraine's experience. These lessons matter for all of Europe," said Professor Richard Sullivan of the Institute of Cancer Policy at King's College London, who pointed to joint Polish-Ukrainian research on health services and policy — comparing patient access, healthcare utilization, and financing across the two systems — as a particularly promising next step.

Participants didn't just leave with new knowledge — in a post-program survey, they described concrete ways they would carry it directly into their clinical and research work, a sign the program is shaping practice, not just producing a memorable few days.

"For young physicians who, like me, hope to become oncologists, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn. I gained a great deal of knowledge, and I think I will be able to apply it in my future research," said Anna Trelecka, MD from Warsaw.

The relationships formed in AACR on Campus Poland–Ukraine are meant to continue well past it — through joint studies, mentorship, grant applications, and clinical trials. 

As Dr. Inesa Huivaniuk put it: "For Ukrainian oncology, international collaboration opens access to joint research, mentorship, grant programs, and clinical trials, but its value goes far beyond individual professional opportunities. What matters is that Ukrainian clinicians and researchers can participate fully in the international professional community — sharing their own experience, developing research questions together, and working with partners to identify solutions that improve cancer care and patients' quality of life. This is important for Ukraine today, and it will remain important after the war ends."