[ADHERING TO MEDICAL STANDARTS, EVIDENCE-BASED STAGING IN GYNECOLOGICAL CANCER]

Among the key factors that influence the survival of patients is adherence to medical treatment standards. Indicators are assessing the degree of adherence to medical standards and represent the relative shares (%) of patients who fulfilled the relevant aspect of any subject. Data from the BNCR of 9842 cases of patients with malignant diseases of the female reproductive diagnosed in 2011-2013 in Bulgaria has been analyzed. Patients with tumors of the vulva were incorrectly staged in 15% to 30% of the cases, and those with vaginal tumors were incorrectly staged in 20% to 23% of cases. In patients with malignant tumors of the cervix incorrect staging was established in 19% to 47% of the cases. Patients with tumors of the uterus were incorrectly staged in 6% to 26% of the cases. Among the patients with ovarian tumors were incorrectly staged in 18% to 43%. Our results show that one in three patients with gynecological cancer in Bulgaria was incorrectly staged. We recommend using the current TNM and FIGO systems.