Oncology Centre: Legacy of the Bank of Cyprus for the people of the island

The Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre is not just another Gesy hospital for cancer patients. It is the benchmark for the fight against cancer in Cyprus, a centre that offers treatment to cancer patients, perhaps the greatest legacy granted by an organisation to the society of Cyprus. It is the most successful partnership between the private and the public sectors, aimed at creating an organisation that has now become an integral part of the life of every family experiencing cancer.  

In 2023, the Oncology Centre celebrated its 25 year anniversary.

Historical background

Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Cyprus Group Solon Triantafyllides is a man of vision who always had the ability to perceive society’s messages beyond financial performance. He sensed the need to advance the provision of health services by supporting a specialised centre aimed at treating cancer patients. Thus, he took a historic decision and persuaded the Board of Directors of the Bank to donate CYP 3 million for the creation of the Oncology Centre. His actual words were: “This donation is an offering to the Cypriot people, to whom the Bank of Cyprus owes much. It is the Cypriot people who have supported and continue supporting it and who surround it with their trust and love, regarding it as their own Bank, the Bank of Cyprus”.

The implementation of his idea started in November 1990 with the decision of the Advisory Committee to create a tertiary medical centre that would include various specialisations.

However, a year later the Boards of Directors of the Bank of Cyprus Group and the Bank of Cyprus Medical Foundation decided to adopt the basic research principles for the establishment of an independent autonomous Oncology Centre providing diagnostic and treatment services. The vision of the donors was to become a Centre of Excellence.

Agreement with the state

On November 6, 1992 an agreement was signed between the Republic of Cyprus and the Bank of Cyprus Medical Foundation, according to which the Medical Foundation undertook to cover the costs of the construction and equipment of the Oncology Centre. The state undertook to grant public land on the site of the Makarios Hospital, next to the Thalassaemia Centre, and to assume the operating costs in perpetuity.

Until 2019, the Bank of Cyprus contributed financially where necessary to attract health professionals to ensure high-quality cancer services. The Bank of Cyprus also undertook all building renovations, medical equipment replacements, the construction of the new wing, the purchase of medical equipment and financing for the creation of new parking spaces. Finally, with the inclusion of the Centre in National Health System Gesy, the Bank of Cyprus provides the Centre with a fixed amount that is considered as a supplement to the Centre’s capital expenditure budget. 

The Bank of Cyprus is very proud of the Centre and considers it one of its most important investments with a return of unlimited value, and since its establishment up to the present day it has disposed of €70 million of accumulated investments.

Specialisation in cancer

The Centre has specialised units where each patient is monitored by specialised oncologists and health professionals. There are also units for rarer diseases that are included in European networks with the aim of obtaining knowledge about the disease and its treatment. It also has units for less common cases, such as endocrine tumours. The Oncology Centre also holds multidisciplinary group meetings (oncology councils) concerning the main malignancies, which are attended by doctors of various specialties not only from Cyprus but also from many renowned cancer centres abroad.

Research activity

Establishment of the A.G. Leventis Clinical Trials Unit

Since March 2017, the Leventis Foundation has funded the development of the A.G. Leventis Clinical Trials Unit at the Oncology Centre. With the expertise of the Centre’s physicians and of the unit’s staff, clinical studies are carried out through this unit, contributing to the development of innovative cancer treatment and/or to the improvement of patients’ quality of life. In some cases, through this unit, patients who have exhausted conventional treatment options for their disease have the opportunity to get access to new treatments and drugs not available through Gesy and therefore increase the number of treatment options available to them. 

Establishment of the Cyprus Cancer Research Institute (CCRI)

In July 2018, leveraging its clinical data and expertise, the Oncology Centre decided to unite forces with the University of Cyprus – School of Medicine and the Karaiskakio Foundation to establish the CCRI. The building of the CCRI – Nicola David-Pinedo – is a donation from the George and Kaity David Foundation in memory of their daughter, and its purpose is to carry out primary research to fight cancer with the contribution of the three organisations.

Establishment of the Cancer Genetics Clinic – Andreas Papaellinas

The Oncology Centre is also the base for the Cancer Genetics Clinic – Andreas Papaellinas. Funding for the clinic was undertaken by Papaellinas. The clinic offers services to patients of the Oncology Centre and their families characterised by hereditary cancer syndromes, and its aim is to coordinate genetic testing and follow-up of individuals with known hereditary predispositions, mainly for breast, ovarian and colon cancers, plus their family members and individuals who are genetically at higher risk of developing certain cancers.

The Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre reminds us every day that cancer will be fought and brought to public attention not on certain days of the year only – it is treated through a constant and timeless struggle. This is a daily and continuous fight.

The Oncology Centre remains a beacon of hope, and its operation for 25 years has produced fruitful establishments and institutions, each of which has the purpose of treating and curing cancer, as well as of improving the lives of patients and their loved ones.

ONCOLOGY CENTRE IN NUMBERS

€70 million total amount of accumulated investments by theBank of Cyprus in the Oncology Centre

2,418 new cancer patients registered in 2023

50,006 patients registered and have undergone treatment at the Centre since 1998 by end of 2023

17,142 patientsunderwent treatment at the Centre in 2023

280 members of medical and administrative staff, 199 medical suppliers, 106 other suppliers