Who is Pavel Nikolayevich Rusanov from Cancer Ward and what is their importance?

Pavel is a personnel records specialist in the Soviet Union, which is a euphemism for the secret service. He has learned to manipulate the system too, but from a position of great power. Pavel has a nice home, a car, and is able to send his children to university. His wife wears fur coats, and he travels in elite circles with powerful friends. Yet cancer does not recognize political power, and Pavel is forced to be admitted to a hospital and stay in a ward with regular people. This bothers him almost as much as the cancerous tumor.