EU POLICY TOWARDS THE WESTERN BALKANS

Na temelju analize sudjelovanja država Zapadnog Balkana u regionalnim inicijativama od 1990. do 1999, njihovim učincima i utjecajima, te regionalne dimenzije unutar Procesa stabilizacije i pridruživanja od 1999. do danas ovaj rad argumentira da regionalne inicijative EU nisu presudno pomogle državama Zapadnog Balkana da osiguraju integraciju u EU ili promijene političku, ekonomsku ili socijalnu klimu u regiji, kao ni da razviju regionalnu suradnju, što je bio jedan od temeljnih ciljeva politike europskih integracija prema tom dijelu Europe. Stoga treba poboljšati modalitete razvoja regionalne suradnje na Zapadnom Balkanu. To se može postići razvijanjem euroregija kao zajedničkog interesnog modela pristupanja europskim fondovima. No usporedbom financijskih sredstava namijenjenih regionalnoj suradnji pokazuje se kako se ukupna sredstva nisu povećala niti će biti povećana u srednjoročnom razdoblju. Stoga će regionalna suradnja na Zapadnom Balkanu i dalje pratiti dosadašnje obrasce politike.This paper argues that various EU policy initiatives towards the Western Balkans in the period of 1990-1999 did not in fact encourage the Western Balkans to move on and secure quicker integration into the European Union. They also failed to support reforms in the political, economic and social spheres. In addition, EU initiatives were too ineffective in terms of development of regional cooperation among countries of the region. Thus, new models were – and still are – needed if the EU remains committed to further enlargement in the Western Balkans. The author proposes development of a euro-region in the Western Balkans. In this way, countries of the Western Balkans would be encouraged to collaborate in applying for EU funding, which would support other forms of cooperation. However, since the funds are now restricted, it is more likely that even this approach would have only limited success

The Value of Hormone Receptor Assessment in Ultrasound Guided Core Needle Biopsy of the Breast

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Western countries after skin tumors. Successful treatment depends on many factors, relies on clinical examination, diagnostic procedures, pathologic evaluation, and good therapy decision. The Pathologic diagnosis should be the determining factor in the decision on therapeutic approach. There are several methods of obtaining tissue samples. The percutaneous ultrasound guided breast Core needle biopsy (CNB) is one of them. The Aim of this Study is to evaluate our experience in the accuracy of hormone receptors assessment in ultrasound guided CNB. In our institution, in last 12 month 60 women (with 67 lesions) underwent Breast CNB. The CNB was performed with 16 Gauge semiautomatic biopsy needle with 15 Gauge coordinated introducer needle. 3-6 specimen (mean 4) were taken during the procedure. We analyzed five factors (histological type, histological grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and HER2 from the biopsied sample. All results were presented at the Multidisciplinary Oncology Team. In addition to demographic data and morphological features of the lesion, we analyzed five pathological factors (histological type, histological grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and HER2 from the biopsied sample. All results were presented at the Multidisciplinary Oncology Team. Ultrasound-guided CNB has proven to be a reliable technique for performing a biopsy for breast. It is a good and reliable, complication free method, for preoperative staging, operative planning as well for prognostic value. It is a cost-effective method, can be performed quickly and in outpatient population, does not deform the breast and multiple lesions can be biopsied. This technique shows a high sensitivity value and offers many advantages over other imaging methods to guide a biopsy. All advantages have made this technique the most widespread used technique to perform a biopsy for a suspicious breast lesion