Lectures and Discussions with Physicians  

Mr. Primarius Prof. Dr. Greil, head of the third medical clinic in the district hospital of Salzburg, visited our school for lectures and discussions for one evening. Here we learned how tumours originate and how they are treated according to today’s scientific know-how. Mr. Primarius Prof. Dr. Greil explained when to use chemo- and radiotherapy and their different effects. He answered all our questions in great detail.
Ms. Dr. Bettina Kramer, physician in Braunau, took our blood for further tests and deep froze it at -20 C°. Her lecture concentrated on colon carcinoma, commonly treated with a special cytostatic called 5-FU.

We learned about details that distressed us deeply. The medication 5-FU, which we would test for its compatibility during our gene tests, causes serious side effects at 1-3% of all patients, as people having a genetic defect at their DPD gene cannot decompose the medication in time and chemotherapy can even cause death. If all patients would be tested for the otherwise harmless gene mutation before getting chemotherapy, physicians could use a lower dose or a different medication for chemotherapy and achieve the same results with less negative side effects. Unfortunately, the Euro 40,-, the relevant gene test costs, are not yet covered by health insurances.
Mr. Primarius Prof. Dr. Greil performs the necessary tests at his oncology department, which is connected to a lab. Therefore, a patient in Salzburg has the advantage that relevant gene tests are conducted, before the 5-FU medication is given. In other hospitals patients can just hope not to be affected by a mutation of the DPD gene.

We intended to demonstrate with our project that already existing test procedures, that are easy to be conducted, help identifying risk patients and adjusting chemotherapy to individual needs. Our press release should then criticise that these tests are not paid and covered by health insurances.