5% more cancer cases every year in Kosovo, UCCK without capacity to cope with this

5% more cancer cases every year in Kosovo, UCCK without capacity to cope with this

In Kosovo, the number of new cancer cases is increasing at a rate of about 5% each year, says the director of the Oncology Clinic at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, Ilir Kurtishi.

He explains that this trend is the result of several factors, including air pollution, smoking, or unbalanced diets, but also of citizens’ growing awareness of conducting regular checkups.

According to the clinical cancer registry at the Oncology Clinic of the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, from January to early July 2025, around 1.070 new cancer cases were registered.

National-level data from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics show that over the last decade, the number of new cases has followed an almost uninterrupted upward trend.

Kurtishi emphasizes that a significant portion of cases continue to be diagnosed in advanced stages of the disease.

He mentions several additional factors that influence its spread and progression:

• “Viral infections, use of contraceptives, lack of physical activity, and others.”
• The organs of the digestive system – such as the colon or stomach – are among the most vulnerable to malignant tumors, as forms of cancer are otherwise known.
• Tumors in the breast and genitals are also among the most common.

In a response to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo (NIPHK) announced that during 2024 the most common types of cancer were: breast cancer with 640 cases (17.6%), followed by other skin cancers with 587 cases (13.8%), lung and bronchial cancer with 312 cases (8.6%) and colon cancer with 193 cases (5.3%).

In total, 2024 new cases of malignant disease were reported during the January-December 3.644 period.

According to statistics, 51.8% of those affected are women and 48.2% are men, while the most affected age group is those over 60 years old.

Prevalence – which shows how many people are living with cancer at a given time – was 288.3 cases per 100 inhabitants in 2024, while incidence – which measures new cases diagnosed during the year – reached 227.4 cases per 100 inhabitants, NIPHK data show.

According to this institute, the increase in cancer cases is related to similar factors as in other countries: demographic changes, environmental pollution, lifestyle, improved diagnosis and reporting, and the lack of special programs for prevention and early detection.

In the last five years, the treatment of cancer patients at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo has increased significantly.

However, the capacities of the Oncology Clinic do not seem to have been able to adequately cope with this increase.

Conditions at this clinic continue to be limited – whether in space, personnel, or equipment.

There are a total of 110 beds for patients receiving chemotherapy.

Radio Free Europe has previously reported that this treatment is often offered in makeshift rooms.

Also, patients often face long waits, due to a lack of capacity – whether for doctors or medicines.

Medical staff constantly emphasize the need for greater investments, which are being made, but are often not enough to significantly improve the quality of treatment or alleviate the increasing influx of patients.

According to a World Health Organization report published last year, about 1 in 5 people develops cancer during their lifetime and approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from the disease.

Kurtishi emphasizes the importance of regular check-ups, noting that early diagnosis of any disease significantly increases the chances of successful treatment. /REL