“Thanks to the program of the Italian lung screening network (Risp), in one year we have diagnosed more than 90 lung tumors, the majority of which are in the first stage with a resectability approaching 80%”. This was said by Ugo Pastorino, director of SC Thoracic Surgery at the National Cancer Institute of Milan and head of the Risp project, on the occasion of the event ‘The lung at the center of prevention: an Italian reality’, which was held this morning in Rome.
“We have obtained unexpected results: in less than 2 years we have recruited more than 20 thousand people, of which more than 10 thousand are eligible and almost all of them have already done the first screening – reports Pastorino – We have demonstrated that all the centers in Italy have the potential to perform lung screening with an acceptable level of quality”. Underlining the importance of early diagnosis of lung cancer, the specialist recalls that “normally lung cancer is resected in 20% of cases, while with the Risp program we have reached 80% and most of these are cured”. But this was not the only advantage. “We have also done more – highlights the expert – because CT allows us to classify coronary damage and lung damage caused by emphysema due to smoking. Therefore we have shown that it is possible to implement the prevention of these pathologies”.
To succeed in the undertaking, Pastorino remarks, “we used artificial intelligence, which proved to be an ally for the screening activity, as it is like having a radiologist working alongside the radiologist and doing what the radiologist doesn’t like do, such as measuring the volume, comparing the volume from one CT scan to another, greatly facilitating the radiologist’s work. It does not replace it, but it will make everything easier and less expensive.”
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