Konstantinos Goussias: The Greek neurosurgeon who deals with cancer

Konstantinos Goussias, 45 years old, has achieved something almost impossible even for Germans. At the age of just 36, he became associate professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Bonn. A year later he took over as deputy clinic director at the University Hospital of Bochum. After two years he was offered the position of head of brain tumor neurosurgery at the University Hospital Marburg. And a little later he took a position as a clinic director at the academic hospital Linen (Lünen), which belongs to the University of Münster. There, with his excellent team, the Greek professor waged daily battles against brain cancer with innovative methods and good results, even when the type of cancer is incurable. A few weeks ago he was elected among the 15 members of the European Neurosurgical Society’s Committee on Surgical Oncology in recognition of his contribution and excellence in the field of tumor treatment.

Immunotherapy, a pioneering method

With all this cognitive “equipment” and vast experience, Konstantinos Goussias takes the road back to his homeland. Since January, he has been the Director of Neurosurgery at the Athens Medical Center. We caught up with him in transition to talk about the advances in science in this very difficult field of surgery. “Recently we have greatly improved our surgical techniques to give the patient with malignant tumors, such as glioblastomas, a longer life expectancy and a better quality of life,” he tells us. “I am proud because in my clinic in Germany we have also done many experimental treatments that are proving to be very effective.

One of them is immunotherapy, which is tailored to each patient. During surgery, we remove the tumor itself, which is then processed in a special laboratory to activate its own so-called dendritic cells, a subpopulation of the immune system. The property of the latter is to recognize and fight cancer cells that have remained diffused in the brain. Then, through an intravenous injection, we inject them into the patient. There is no cure, but it is a very good result if we can extend his life from 14 months to over three and in many cases five years.”

The battle for the lives of patients with brain cancer is a daily bet for the distinguished Greek scientist, ever since he was a student at the Medical School of Ioannina, receiving various awards and scholarships. “My first PhD was on brain tumors. I am grateful that my Greek teachers helped me get out. It has always been my dream to work at the University Clinic of Bonn, then it was the largest in Europe by a large margin, close to the most famous Professor of Neurosurgery Johannes Schramm. Here I did my second PhD on tumors. We had even discovered certain proteins that play a role in the survival of glioblastoma patients.”

From Ioannina to Bonn and back to Athens

Gousias returns to Bonn with great nostalgia. This is where the great journey into science began. He and his wife came in November 2007, with everything they had and didn’t have, in an old car. Their first home was a room with a shower and a rudimentary kitchen, sort of like a garden house. Then they moved to an apartment, their son was born. “Our parents did everything they could, they were neither businessmen nor great doctors. We had to stand on our own two feet, and that’s the best factor to succeed in life.” His rapid rise is due to his mature choices, hard work within a highly organized and meritocratic German system. “No one has carpets laid out for them, everyone has to work hard. Professor Schramm produced over 20 clinic directors, I was chronologically the last in line. In Greece I could not have reached so high in so few years”. Now the Greek professor is packing his bags for the return trip to the country that gave him the basic supplies to reach so high.

“I studied in Greece with my wife and we will return to the country that studied us. I hope to help a lot of people, to bring my cures, to offer the precious good of health, and to benefit from the love of the world and the warmth of the country, and I don’t mean the climate. I want my son to grow up like me, close to relatives.” And Germany? Will he miss it? “In Germany, I got a lot of love and recognition from the clinic, the patients, the colleagues. My goals in the clinic and in research could be easily achieved because you step on the pre-work of previous years. Germany is a country where with a program you can achieve what you aim for. However, we are Greeks, I want to go back somewhere where I can hear Greek, have a quality of life”.

Nostalgia cannot hide the endless hours of reflection on the decision. “In my case, it is a leap, a risk, because I have laid out my career. But I am optimistic that I will be able to provide high-level neurosurgery in Greece as well. Our country has made great progress in recent years and I firmly believe that the scientific and academic course I have here, I will continue it even better in Athens”.

The brain gives ‘meaningful life’

The offer to take over the directorate of Neurosurgery at a large private hospital in Athens was very honorable. There he will build his own surgical team and will be able to operate exactly as in Germany. “Financial was not the motivation, it is important for me to be able to scientifically offer what I want.” In a few days one of the most renowned Greek neurosurgeons in Europe will operate on the brain, “the result of human evolution” in Greece. From Germany he brings many moments from the difficult life of a neurosurgeon that have marked him.

“I remember a case of a young computer engineer with a three-month-old child. He developed mobility problems in his arms, then in his legs, and became paraplegic. I did an MRI and we saw that he has a huge tumor in the spinal cord at 7 levels, in the cervical and thoracic spine. We made a bet, who will walk faster, the one with the tumor or the 3 month old? I said that he will walk first, and I won the bet. These are the good moments that give us strength to move forward in our profession, they are the greatest gift. Of course, there are also the bad ones, which you can hardly erase from your memory…”

And he invites us to watch a brain surgery “to see what emotions the mere sight of it awakens, such a small organ of 1600 grams, responsible for life with meaning” he tells us. “It’s the best gift to a neurosurgeon when the patient who can’t speak well before surgery starts talking to you afterwards, as if nothing had happened. There are moments when you feel like you have faced cancer and won a battle…”