ECIO - European Conference on Interventional Oncology

As a proud project partner of the INTERACT-EUROPE 100 project and following the successful implementation of seven cohorts bringing together 107 cancer centres across 26 countries and engaging over 1,100 healthcare professionals, CIRSE is pleased to share with you the news of the final and enhanced edition of the programme.

Starting in September 2026, this new implementation cycle will offer a more streamlined and compact format, integrating the experience and feedback gathered from previous cohorts while maintaining the programme’s strong focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and excellence in cancer care. We warmly invite cancer centres committed to innovation in oncology training and patient-centred care to apply.

Applications should be submitted by 12 June to: [email protected]

To find out more about INTERACT-EUROPE, visit https://www.europeancancer.org/eu-projects/impact/interact-europe-100

This project is co-funded by the European Union.

Cancer Organisation

may have only just wrapped up, but the Scientific Programme Committee is already hard at work shaping in Palma de Mallorca!

A big thank you to our dedicated SPC for their expertise, commitment, and passion in creating another outstanding programme for Europe’s leading interventional oncology conference.

We can’t wait to see what’s ahead!

Jean Palussière, Martijn Meijerink, Stefan Mueller-Huelsbeck, Miltiadis (Miltos) Krokidis, Gemma Sempere Campello, Dirk Arnold, Irene Bargellini, Roberto Luigi Cazzato, Jérôme Durand-Labrunie, Fernando Gomez Muñoz, Roberto Iezzi, Inger Keussen, David James Pinato, Anthony Ryan, Maarten Smits, Stefan Stättner, Georgia Tsoumakidou

🏆 Congratulations to the winners of the TACE Championship!

🥇 1st place: Antonio Giangregorio
Istituto Imaging della Svizzera Italiana (IIMSI)

🥈 2nd place: Edoardo Visconti
ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia

🥉 3rd place: Shady Elmaghloub
National Cancer Institute -Cairo University

A big thank you to all participants for taking on the challenge and showcasing their skills — and to our collaboration partner Mentice for making it possible! 👏

Join us at the ET Embolization Cup at and cheer on the teams as they take on the next challenge!

with Marek Makovnik

And that’s a wrap for the week. 🔥

It was truly a great honor and privilege to be given the opportunity by ECIO/CIRSE to share a glimpse into our everyday work at the National Cancer Institute Bratislava and to represent our department, our team, and Slovak interventional radiology on an international platform.

Throughout this week, we tried to show that interventional oncology is far more than just procedures — it is multidisciplinary collaboration, education, innovation, pain palliation, patient-centered care, and countless small moments that can profoundly change patients’ lives.

We sincerely hope you enjoyed our cases and daily clinical insights, and we are grateful that we could bring you closer to the reality of our work, our challenges, and our passion for interventional oncology.

Thank you to everyone who followed along during this takeover week. See you at ! 🚀

with Marek Makovnik
Biliary interventions are among the most technically demanding procedures in interventional radiology. What may appear as a “simple drainage” often requires complex planning, precise imaging guidance, knowledge of anatomy, and the ability to solve life-threatening complications in real time.
Our spectrum ranges from routine biliary drainage procedures to advanced reconstruction of the biliary tree using self-expandable metallic stents. In one patient presenting with massive hemobilia caused by an arterio-biliary fistula and circulatory instability, we achieved immediate stabilization by implanting a covered self-expandable stent into the bile duct. Another case involved complex drainage of a multisegmental hilar stenosis with preparation for a rendezvous procedure together with gastroenterology colleagues, allowing subsequent internalization of the drainage.
And perhaps one of the most elegant techniques in biliary intervention — treatment of central hilar stenosis, where from a single percutaneous access we are able to deploy bilateral stents into the right and left biliary system, creating either a Y or lambda configuration. In selected patients, this allows complete internal biliary drainage without the need for an external catheter, significantly improving comfort and quality of life.
Sometimes interventional radiology is less about “placing a drain” — and more about rebuilding physiology. 🔥

with Marek Makovnik
Pain palliation is becoming one of the fastest-growing fields in interventional radiology, thanks in part to pioneers such as Prof. Dimitris Filippiadis. We are increasingly seeing patients with morphine-dependent cancer pain (VAS 7–10/10) achieve dramatic relief after CT-guided procedures such as cryoneurolysis or targeted nerve blocks, often achieving long-term reduction of pain to a tolerable VAS level of 1–3/10 and allowing reduction of high-dose opioid therapy — restoring quality of life, mobility, and dignity to patients who often had no remaining therapeutic options.

In these cases, we performed cryoneurolysis of the celiac plexus, unilateral pudendal nerve cryoneurolysis following a diagnostic block, and a multilevel right-sided L3–L5 nerve root block.

The ECIP concept perfectly highlights how interventional radiology can directly influence everyday oncology care — not only by targeting disease itself, but by helping patients feel well enough to continue living, moving, and receiving further treatment. 🔥

All lectures from CIRSE's recent European Conference on Image-Guided Pain Management are available free of charge via the CIRSE Library: https://t.ly/FczGH

with Marek Makovnik

Education is everything.

For interventional procedures to be performed safely, effectively, and with the right indications, continuous education is essential. Interventional oncology is evolving rapidly, and staying updated is a responsibility we carry toward our patients and colleagues.

That is why education remains such an important part of our work — not only through teaching within our own department, but also through lectures at national and international congresses, multidisciplinary discussions, hands-on workshops, and sharing everyday clinical experience with colleagues across different hospitals and specialties.

Because good interventions start long before entering the operating rooms — they start with knowledge.

with Marek Makovnik

A 59-year-old patient with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma involving the liver and skeleton presented with severe thoracic spine pain radiating to the lower extremities, associated with marked limitation of mobility. The patient reported a VAS pain score >10 and was unable to walk because of the pain. Due to his poor clinical condition and immobilization, systemic anticancer therapy could not be initiated at that time.

Follow-up CT imaging demonstrated a metastatic lesion in Th9 with a Grade 1 compression fracture and an additional smaller metastasis in Th12. During assessment by the Department of Palliative Medicine at the National Cancer Institute Bratislava, the Th9 lesion was identified as the primary pain generator.
After multidisciplinary team discussion, the patient was indicated for palliative radiofrequency ablation followed by stabilizing vertebroplasty. Both vertebrae underwent a 12-minute ablation protocol followed by cementoplasty under CT fluoroscopy. The procedure was completed without complications.
Ten days later, the patient reported dramatic pain relief with only minimal residual discomfort. Most importantly, he regained the ability to walk independently and his overall clinical condition improved sufficiently to allow initiation of systemic anticancer treatment.

With gratitude to Dr. Ján Haršany, Head of the Department of Radiology Trnava who taught us these techniques and helped build this approach in our practice.

Sometimes, treating pain is what makes cancer treatment possible. 🔥