Diagnosis and Treatment Abroad: The Real Stories of Romanians
In the series “Diagnosis and Treatment Abroad: The Real Stories of Romanians,” published on Money.ro in collaboration with tratamentestrainatate.ro, we present today an episode different from all the others.
It is not the story of a single patient. It is the story of three patients with colon cancer — each sent home with the same words: “There are no more solutions.”
And each one found one.
“There are no more solutions” does not always mean that solutions do not exist. It sometimes means that the available solutions go beyond local protocols. The three stories below show what can happen when you do not give up.
From the Money.ro editorial team | Interview conducted with an international medical facilitation consultant from tratamentestrainatate.ro
The phone rings differently when it is about advanced stage cancer.
There is no panic. There are no questions. There is a single phrase, spoken slowly and clearly:
“They told me there is nothing more to be done. What do I do?”
I have heard this phrase dozens of times. And dozens of times I have searched — and many times I have found — a different answer.
What “There Are No More Solutions” Means in Oncology
Money.ro: Why do patients reach you after being told there are no more options?
Consultant: We first need to understand how cancer treatment works at a global level.
Optimizing cancer treatment has two essential steps: complete and correct diagnosis — meaning certainty that you know exactly what you are dealing with — and the treatment itself, which has two directions depending on the situation.
The first direction is curative treatment — when healing is possible. The second is palliative treatment — when healing is no longer the main objective, but prolonging life in good quality conditions is perfectly achievable.
When a doctor in Romania says “there are no more solutions,” it usually means that the locally available protocols have been exhausted. It does not mean that there is no longer any option at a global level.
This is the essential difference. And this is the difference that access to a reference oncological center in Vienna or Israel can make — centers that work daily with new molecules, targeted therapies and active clinical trials that Romanian protocols do not include.
Money.ro: Why is colon cancer so frequent among the cases you facilitate?
Consultant: Colon cancer is one of the most common types of cancer — especially in men. It has a slower progression compared to other cancers, which may seem like an advantage. But it is precisely this slow progression that makes it dangerous: cancer does not hurt in the early stages. You realize too late that something is wrong.
Other changes in the body signal its presence — bleeding, changes in bowel movements, back pain, unexplained fatigue. By the time these signals become clear, many patients are already at stage 3 or 4.
And advanced stage colon cancer frequently metastasizes to bones — and bone metastases are extremely painful. It is one of the most difficult scenarios in oncology — not just medically, but humanly.
I will present three real cases that I have facilitated. Three people who were told there were no more solutions. And three solutions that were found.
Case 1 — The Pills Brought Directly from the American Manufacturer
Money.ro: Tell us about the first case.
Consultant: A man with stage 4 colon cancer. He had already undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy in Romania. The treatment had been correctly applied — the doctors in Romania had not made mistakes. The problem was that the disease had returned and metastasized, and the locally available protocols had been exhausted.
The family called me desperate. They could no longer find solutions.
I sent the complete medical file — with all the treatment lines performed, all investigations, the entire history — to Vienna. To the head of the colon cancer program at a Viennese reference center, specialized also in immunotherapy and new targeted therapies.
Money.ro: What did the Viennese doctor find?
Consultant: He found an option for one more treatment line — with a new molecule, acquired directly from the American manufacturer, unavailable in Romania at that time.
And this is the detail that mattered enormously for the patient’s quality of life: after a long series of heavy intravenous treatments — infusions, repeated hospitalizations, severe side effects — this new treatment line was in the form of pills.
Pills taken at home. No hospitalization. No infusions. No treatment rooms.
The patient gained time. Good time — not time spent in bed or in hospital. This is palliative medicine at the highest level: not just prolonging life, but prolonging life in dignified conditions.
Access to original medications made easier through tratamentestrainatate.ro
Case 2 — The Molecular Testing That Changed Everything
Money.ro: The second case?
Consultant: Another patient with colon cancer — with bone metastases. Sent home in Romania because there was no longer any valid treatment line according to local protocols.
Bone metastases mean pain. Constant pain, difficult to control. It is one of the hardest scenarios in oncology — not just medically, but humanly.
At the recommendation of a professor specializing in colon cancer in Vienna, I facilitated advanced molecular testing — an additional analysis of the biopsy performed in a laboratory in the USA. Complete DNA and RNA molecular profiling, with databases of tens of millions of cases and artificial intelligence interpretation.
Money.ro: What did the molecular testing show?
Consultant: It showed something that no standard investigation in Romania had identified: a specific mutation for which there was a new experimental treatment — in pill form — with documented results in active clinical trials.
But — and this is a crucial detail — a molecular profiling report of this kind has 30-50 pages of dense technical information. Not every doctor can interpret it and translate it into practice. You need an up-to-date specialist who works daily with these tests and knows exactly what each identified mutation means in the specific clinical context of the patient.
The professor in Vienna interpreted the report and built the treatment plan.
Money.ro: How did the patient evolve?
Consultant: The treatment included two components. The first: the new experimental molecule in pill form — which targeted the tumor based on the identified mutation. The second: a new component for controlling the pain produced by bone metastases — less aggressive than morphine, with significantly reduced side effects.
The result was remarkable. The treatment managed to prolong life for several years — and the deterioration of the body was significantly delayed compared to what would have happened without it.
It also came with something I had not expected: practical instructions for preserving the body’s energy. For example, to avoid putting excessive pressure on the bones affected by metastases, the patient had been recommended to use a wheelchair and to stand up and walk only when absolutely necessary. A simple measure — but one that protected the bone structure and prolonged the capacity for movement.
This is complete oncological management: not just the medication, but also the way you live with it.
→ DNA and RNA molecular testing from the USA facilitated through tratamentestrainatate.ro
Case 3 — The Perfect Operation: Romanian Surgeon, Viennese Coordination
Money.ro: Is the third case different from the first two?
Consultant: Completely different — and I include it precisely because it shows that solutions are not always outside Romania. Sometimes the optimal solution combines international expertise with local surgery.
A patient with colon cancer for whom, due to the location of the tumor, complete excision of the tumor and consequently of a portion of the colon was recommended. A complex surgical intervention.
Usually, the first instinct in oncology is to begin with oncological treatment — chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapies — and to resort to surgery afterwards if necessary. In this case however, the international multidisciplinary tumor board evaluation established that direct surgical intervention was indicated as the first solution, given the location and characteristics of the tumor.
→ International MDT Tumor Board evaluation through tratamentestrainatate.ro
Money.ro: How did the operation go?
Consultant: The operation took place in Romania — with an excellent Romanian surgeon, part of the team coordinated by an oncology professor from Vienna who supervised the entire process.
This is the hybrid formula we frequently facilitate: the expertise and coordination of a top international center, executed locally by an experienced surgeon, under the direct guidance of the coordinating professor.
The result: a perfect operation. Complete removal of the tumor with 100% clean margins — which in oncological surgery means that no tumor tissue remained.
And this is the detail that impressed me most: the patient was 80 years old. At 80 years old, after a major oncological surgical intervention — discharged in a few days. Resumption of normal quality of life almost immediately.
Modern medicine, correctly coordinated, can do that.
→ Complete medical case management through tratamentestrainatate.ro
What the Three Stories Teach Us
Money.ro: What conclusion do you draw from these three cases together?
Consultant: That “there are no more solutions” is a conclusion that must always be verified before being accepted.
I am not saying that doctors in Romania make mistakes. I am saying that locally available protocols have real limits — and that beyond these limits there are sometimes new molecules, advanced molecular testing, active clinical trials and specialized expertise that are not available in Romania in 2026.
The three cases above have a common denominator: no patient gave up after the first negative answer. And in each case, perseverance found a solution.
One patient received a new molecule in pill form brought directly from the American manufacturer. Another received an experimental treatment identified through advanced molecular testing from the USA. The third benefited from a perfect operation in Romania, coordinated by a professor from Vienna.
Three different solutions. The same principle: do not stop at the first negative answer.
Money.ro: What advice do you give a patient with advanced stage colon cancer who has received the answer that there are no more options?
Consultant: To send the complete medical file — with all treatment lines performed, all investigations and the entire medical history — to a center specializing in colon cancer in Vienna or Israel before accepting that there is nothing more to be done.
To request a multidisciplinary tumor board evaluation that analyzes the case as a whole — not just the last treatment line.
And to ask explicitly about advanced molecular testing from the USA — because very often there are specific mutations identifiable only through this testing, for which there are new treatments unavailable in Romania.
The worst thing that can happen is to receive the same answer they already have. The best — a new chance.
Call us ☎ 0754 225 262. We analyze the file. We tell you honestly what and how. tratamentestrainatate.ro/servicii/
What is tratamentestrainatate.ro
The three patients in this episode have one thing in common: they sought a second opinion when Romania no longer had answers. And they found one — in Vienna and in Israel.
tratamentestrainatate.ro facilitates rapid access to reference oncological centers in Vienna and Israel for Romanian patients with colon cancer at any stage — multidisciplinary tumor board evaluation, advanced molecular testing from the USA, access to targeted therapies and immunotherapy unavailable in Romania, and complete medical case management.
Hospitals recognized in the Newsweek World’s Best Hospitals 2026
The patients presented in this episode are real people whose identities have been anonymized. tratamentestrainatate.ro is an administrative and logistical facilitation company — it does not provide medical services and does not establish diagnoses or treatments.
