In the current context, research is mostly done by research groups. Unlike formal research institutions (laboratories, institutes, universities), informal unions of researchers around the leaders who could generate new ideas and ensure their implementation proved to be most effective. This is what the Lviv school of oncology, founded in 1945 by Professor H.P. Kovtunovych, developed by his disciple Professor A.I. Hnatyshak, and kept up by their followers B.T. Bilynsky, V.R. Savran, T.H. Fetsych, N.A. Volodko, Yu.M. Sternuik and others, is like.Professor H.P. Kovtunovych carried on the traditions of his Teacher M.M. Petrov that consisted in an integral combination of clinical practice and deep understanding of theoretical oncology. He was interested in the problems of theoretical and clinical oncology. Many specialists know his investigations on tumor etiology (the impact of radiation factor), radiation therapy and surgical treatment methods, particularly ablastics and antiblastics. The most prominent representatives of Professor H.P. Kovtunovychy"s Lviv school of oncology include Professor A.I. Hnatyshak, doctor of medical sciences V.D. Keleman, Professor A.M. Serednytskyi, Professor B.V. Kacharovskyi, and Professor H.A. Ivashkevych, and others. H&e prompted one of his youngest colleagues, B. Bilynsky, to engage into the research of postoperative tumor relapse.Further history of the Lviv school of oncology is tightly connected with the name of Professor Anatoliy Ivanovych Hnatyshak. He graduat&ed from the Lviv Medical Institute in 1940. After the WWII, Anatoliy Hnatyshak returned to his Alma Mater as a teacher. It was already at that time that he started a serious research at Professor Kovtunovych"s department. In 1950, he presented his ca&ndidate dissertation entitled "Cancer and tuberculosis". In 1959, he presented his doctoral dissertation entitled "Thyroid cancer". Using its materials, he published a monograph in 1963; for many years, it remained the only book on the topic in the f&ormer USSR.The following persons have become prominent representatives of his school of oncology under Professor A.I. Hnatyshak"s leadership: Professor B.T. Bilynsky, Professor V.R. Savran, Professor V.I. Dryzhak, Professor V.M. Masliak, Professor R.&D. Huliayeva, candidate of medical sciences R.I. Sendetska, candidate of medical sciences L.R. Kryshtalska, candidate of medical sciences M.T. Kordoba, candidate of medical sciences D.S. Kaystrukova, candidate of medical sciences Z.A. Sluzhynska and &others. From 1986 to 2004 the department of oncology was chaired by Professor H.P. Kovtunovych"s and Professor A.I. Hnatyshak"s disciple B.T. Bilynsky, doctor of medical sciences (1972), professor (1978), honored master of sciences and engineering of& Ukraine (1994), and an academician of the Academy of Sciences of Higher Education of Ukraine (1993). He promoted democratic reformation of the healthcare system in Lviv region, co-authored the project of reorganization of the fi rst Ukrainian hospic&e, and developed and implemented a screening system for early diagnostics of cancer among the employees of big industrial enterprises. He is the author of over 500 publications including 11 monographs and 3 textbooks, among them the book "Oncology". &It is the fi rst textbook in this area for doctors and students written in Ukrainian (it was republished four times - in 1992, 1998, 2004, and 2007) and summarizes the educational experience of the department. He also prepared the manual "Modern sche&mes of polychemotherapy of the main diseases in adults and children". He was the advisor of 5 doctors and 22 candidates of medical sciences, including Professor Ya.M. Romanyshyn, Professor T.H. Fetsych, Professor Sterniuk, doctor of medical sciences &O.O. Halay, doctor of medical sciences N.A. Volodko, Professor O.V. Lukavetskyy, O.V. Shyriy, Ya.V. Shparyk, V.A. Dukach, Yu.Yu. Oliynyk, T.B. Kachmar, V.V. Savran, M.M. Mryglotsky, N.O. Lukavetskyy, S.V. Prymak and others. Over the last 5 years, und&
