Mikhail Laskov

Hematologist Mikhail Laskov, one of Russia’s most sought-after oncologists, interviewed Katerina Gordeeva* for her YouTube channel “Tell Gordeeva”. How are patients treated after sanctions are imposed? Who will provide medical care if all doctors leave Russia? Laskov answered these and other questions. Key citations collected.

Mikhail Laskov – oncologist, hematologist, candidate of medical sciences, Dr. Head of the Laskov Clinic. He led the chemotherapy group for central nervous system tumors and worked as a hematologist at the Russian Cancer Research Center Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Research Institute. NN Blokhin. From 2010 to 2018, he counseled adult oncological and hematological patients at the European Medical Center. Mikhail is also involved in various initiatives that allow people susceptible to cancer to receive reliable information and to learn more about the disease and its treatment for patients.

About my relationship with cancer

I’m not afraid of getting cancer because I’ve come to terms with it. It wouldn’t be too surprising if I got sick. Several people in my family have died of cancer. I know for sure that some of my diseases cannot be cured. We’ll see if I get sick.

How is cancer treated in Russia?

There is no consensus on how to treat cancer. There are types of cancer that take a long time to treat and are expensive. Cancer is the whole universe. There should be no stereotypes. First, a person comes to a therapist. You have a stuffy nose – it could be a runny nose, allergies and cancer. Then the doctor himself diagnoses or sends it to other doctors.

About cooperation with the Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation

Why did they know me there? Because I wasn’t afraid to explain to people who didn’t need to be treated that they didn’t need to be treated. We became interested in a particular field of medicine that not many people are engaged in. They turn to you, but you do not send them, but help, all this is somehow transferred … I also did not remain in debt. Under my desk was a box of medicines worth 50,000 euros from charities. I was friends with Alena Meshkova, director of the Khabensky Foundation. The hardest moment was when we last saw each other in the nursing home. We clearly understood that we would not see each other again (Alena Meshkova died of cancer in 2021. – Approximate edition).

Our funds differ from those operating in economically developed countries. They pay for science and buy diapers, medicine, bandages, catheters, plasters from us. Imminent obligations that the state has persistently and chronically failed to fulfill.

The Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation, founded in 2008, helps children with cancer and other serious brain and spinal cord diseases. The fund pays for the diagnosis and treatment of patients, conducts informational work with their parents, develops the qualifications of doctors and participates in equipping specialized departments of Russian medical institutions.

About life after mobilization

Mobilization was expected for me. It didn’t change my plans, on the contrary, it accelerated it. I don’t think this will take long. The children hastened their inevitable end. A very large and diverse country like Russia is beginning to realize that there is no truth behind these men. To what extent will this expose the Moscow healthcare system? It is difficult to reveal what has been bare for a long time. The degree of collapse is endless, but not many doctors will be called and left. This will not radically change the system, yes, it will be worse. In small towns and villages the system has already collapsed, so they won’t feel much there.

In the new wave of Russian immigration

The possibility of our doctors living abroad is not sugar. This isn’t a story about IT workers moving out and keeping their jobs. Every doctor who leaves loses everything: he has to start all over and start all over again. This struck many years. It will take many years of in-demand doctors to restore everything you have here, and it is not certain that they will be successful. Doctors who leave, go to an empty place. If it turns out that I will be able to make a living, I will probably never start working abroad again. You were a professor here, but there is no one there.

About Russia’s special operation in Ukraine

I woke up on February 24 and went crazy. ***** (special operation. – Ed.) does not cancel cancer. As one patient told me: “It’s not our fault that all this happened. In addition to the big trouble, we have our own trouble.” It seems to me that he canceled the whole discussion about how to help cancer patients. Oncologists 50 thousand people. Thinking you’ll go and everything will fall apart? It won’t crash. Patients will find another doctor.

This ***** (special operation. – Ed.) will cause great damage to people’s ability to treat, even those who want to go abroad for treatment cannot do this anymore. There is no acute shortage of medicine yet. On the other hand, what will go with everything is the destruction of the moldy system. It seems to me that it will provide an opportunity to build everything humanely. ***** (special op. – Ed.) – the main tragedy for 35-45 year olds. For today’s children, I think it will be a distant past where today’s events do not experience them as a tragedy.

On the treatment of patients after the imposition of sanctions

We bought medicine in the first days after the sanctions were imposed. We decided to keep the money in drugs. We probably don’t understand what we need to prepare for yet. There was no such sanctions pressure on such a large and resource-rich country. People will get poorer, medicines will become more expensive, which means they will have less chance of being cured. Since there are no spare parts for the tomographs, the cost of the machines, consumables and difficulties in delivery, there will be problems in maintaining the vitality of the equipment. Medicine consists of good plasters, not robots and protons.

*Katerina Gordeeva is recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation.