Skopje, 4 April 2026 (MIA) — Improved treatments and increased funding have turned several types of cancer into manageable chronic conditions, public health care representatives told a press conference Saturday.

According to University Clinic of Radiotherapy and Oncology director Igor Stojkovski and Health Insurance Fund director Sasho Klekovski, life expectancy is rising for local patients with breast, lung and skin cancer.

Stojkovski said the clinic has seen a sharp increase in the total active cases of these cancers since 2020. 

He said active breast cancer cases rose from 5,000 to 7,000. Active lung cancer cases rose from 1,200 to 1,743. Active skin cancer cases rose from 200 to 514.

According to the oncology clinic director, annual new cases include approximately 800 to 1,000 for breast cancer and 700 for lung cancer. New skin cancer cases rose from 63 in 2020 to 174 in 2025.

The total number of patients "has accumulated due to innovative therapy that is effective for these diseases as well as to the allocation of more financial resources for treating these patients," Stojkovski said.

Klekovski, too, said this progress was due to growing health care spending. He said the clinic’s budget had increased from roughly EUR 10 million in 2017 to EUR 57 million in 2026, a 14% increase over last year alone.

“Regarding breast cancer, funding grew from about EUR 700 per patient in 2020 to EUR 2,500 today,” the Health Insurance Fund head said. 

“Because of new diagnoses and the rising total number of breast cancer patients, the budget for their treatment now accounts for nearly a third of the total budget,” he said.

Since last year, according to Klekovski, six new prescription medications have been added to the Positive List of Prescribed Drugs. Updates in 2026 include two new drugs for breast cancer; new therapy options for prostate cancer; and a 10% increase in the availability of immunotherapy. 

"In some cases, cancer is already a chronic disease that patients live with for a long time, and we need to prepare for an approach that is aligned with this increased life span," Klekovski said. 

"The challenge is considerable because the better we become in treatment, the greater the needs become for specific therapies that our system cannot always anticipate," he said.

The oncology clinic is currently operating three linear accelerators. One of them was recently put into use after sitting in storage for a decade.

Additionally, the clinic has introduced a new device for treating brain metastases, which will allow patients to receive radiation therapy in Skopje rather than being sent to hospitals abroad. mr/