Publicly funded care
NHSU coverage, state procurement, medicine availability and the standard clinical pathway.
Check options →Treatment Access Navigator
Access to treatment
Treatment may exist. The difficult part is understanding how to reach it. This page brings together verified routes to cancer care in Ukraine and abroad.
For patients
Where to start looking for treatment
First check whether the required treatment is available in Ukraine. Then review special programmes, clinical trials or care abroad.
Separate access routes
Humanitarian or public programmes may use diagnosis-specific or status-specific eligibility criteria.
View programmes →Current studies
A study listed as active in a registry does not automatically mean that every centre is currently recruiting.
Check trials →Medevac and other routes
Medical evacuation, care after temporary protection or insurance, and other official mechanisms.
View route →Current options
Verified routes
Green means an official active route. Amber means the programme or trial exists, but recruitment at a specific centre must be confirmed.
Publicly funded chemotherapy in Ukraine
Under the Programme of Medical Guarantees, a patient may choose a contracted provider regardless of registered residence.
Official source: NHSU
Pembrolizumab at NCI - melanoma
State-funded access for patients with confirmed melanoma when radical removal of the tumour or metastases is not possible. Eligibility is decided by the NCI multidisciplinary team.
- referral to a surgical oncologist;
- complete staging package;
- melanoma clinic visit;
- MDT review.
Official source: National Cancer Institute
Pembrolizumab for service members
A separate programme for members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who are serving or were discharged during martial law. It includes several malignancies, including cutaneous melanoma stages IIB-IV.
Eligibility and documents: NCI
AVT32-DRL-TPK-02
Adjuvant study comparing a proposed pembrolizumab biosimilar with Keytruda. The Ukrainian registry lists the study as started in Ukraine on 10 Aug 2026.
Official registry: State Expert Center of the MoH of Ukraine
LEON / MB11-C-01-25
A study of a proposed nivolumab biosimilar versus Opdivo. The national registry confirms that the study has started in Ukraine; recruitment at a specific centre should be checked separately.
Official registry: State Expert Center
Odesa - local pembrolizumab programme
Odesa has a separate local route for access to pembrolizumab. It is distinct from the centralised National Cancer Institute programme and uses its own access conditions.
Important: current indications, residency requirements and medicine availability should be confirmed directly with the participating institution.
Medevac Ukraine
The Ministry of Health continues to accept applications for medical evacuation. For civilian patients, documents are processed by the Medevac Coordination Office and a receiving country is sought for the individual patient.
Important: submitting an application does not guarantee evacuation or a specific destination country.
Official application and criteria: Ministry of Health of Ukraine
Real patient experience
Medical evacuation to Norway
Published with the patient's direct permission. This is an example of one person's route, not a guarantee that another patient will receive the same decision.
The patient did not choose the destination country. Norway was offered after the documents were processed and the Ministry of Health contacted her.
Application submitted
Submitted independently through the Ministry of Health website.
Submitted independently through the Ministry of Health website.
MoH contact
A Ministry representative clarified the required documents.
A Ministry representative clarified the required documents.
Receiving country confirmed
The patient was told that Norway was ready to accept her.
The patient was told that Norway was ready to accept her.
Departure from Lviv
The patient travelled to the Lviv collection point at her own expense. Transport was organised from that point onward.
The patient travelled to the Lviv collection point at her own expense. Transport was organised from that point onward.
Arrival in Oslo
After arrival, reception and temporary-protection paperwork were organised.
After arrival, reception and temporary-protection paperwork were organised.
Documents reported by the patient: form 027/o, BRAF result, CT chest/abdomen/pelvis and brain MRI.
Real patient routes
How treatment was accessed in practice
These stories are published anonymously with permission from patients or their families. They describe one person's real route and do not guarantee the same pathway for another patient.
Stage IV melanoma - temporary protection + insurance
The patient came to Germany after the start of the war, obtained the relevant status and health coverage, and was treated at Universitätsklinikum Regensburg with nivolumab + ipilimumab.
According to the patient, the anti-cancer treatment was covered by insurance. This does not mean automatic coverage of every treatment for every patient - access depends on status, insurance and medical indication.
Current healthcare access framework: German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
Desmoid fibromatosis - §24 + nirogacestat
A patient with aggressive desmoid fibromatosis living in Germany under §24 is receiving nirogacestat (Ogsiveo) under oncology supervision. She also underwent medical genetics assessment in Munich, where an inherited FAP syndrome was confirmed.
This case illustrates a possible route to specialised treatment after entering the German healthcare system. Access to nirogacestat and its coverage must be assessed individually.
General healthcare access framework: BMAS Germany
Cancer surgery through the public healthcare system
The patient's family reported treatment for colon cancer in Italy after completing the necessary documents. Surgery was performed and, after pathology review, surveillance without adjuvant chemotherapy was recommended.
Official Italian guidance states that people with temporary protection can use public healthcare and register through the local ASL after the relevant documentation is issued.
Official information: Protezione Civile
Melanoma - clinical trial in Warsaw
A patient with melanoma of unknown primary and extensive nodal disease entered a clinical trial in Warsaw in 2015 and received encorafenib + binimetinib.
This is an important example of how a clinical trial can become a real route to modern treatment. This particular trial route is historical and should not be interpreted as an active programme today.
More routes
We will keep expanding this navigator
New routes will be added only after checking current official rules and confirming publication permission for any real patient story.
Have experience obtaining cancer treatment in Ukraine or abroad? Write to contact@ostafiichuk.com. Personal and medical information is not published without separate consent.
Important. This page does not guarantee inclusion in a programme or clinical trial and does not replace an individual medical decision. Eligibility, medicine availability and trial recruitment can change. Always verify current status through the official source before acting.