Six out of ten women undergo regular mammography. Concerns about high alcohol consumption which contributes to an increased risk of contracting the disease
Friuli-Venezia Giulia at the top in Italy for the number of new cases of breast cancer. They sign up every year over 1,300 diagnoses, with a rate of 170 cases per 100,000 women, higher than the national average. Among the factors that can influence the incidence, the greatest longevity compared to other Italian Regions and good adherence to mammography screening exams. However, some less healthy lifestyles are of concern, including excessive alcohol consumption. what emerged today on the eve of Focus on breast cancerthe scientific conference which for 20 years has brought together in Friuli the most important national and international experts on the most widespread form of cancer in our country (55,700 new diagnoses in 2022).
Risk factors
Since 2000, we have observed a gradual increase in survival and, today, beyond 22 thousand women live in the Region with a diagnosis of breast cancer – He says Fabio Puglisi, full professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Udine, director of the Department of Medical Oncology at the IRCCS CRO of Aviano and scientific director of the conference —. a figure in line with the national one and the prognosis of women who fall ill is constantly improving thanks to the introduction of innovative medicines and atincrease in early diagnoses. In particular, in the Region the mammography screening program proves to be efficient as demonstrated by the ability to quickly recover the exams not carried out due to Covid-19. However, the disease has a strong impact on our regional health system and we must act to facilitate treatment pathways and to improve primary prevention. Alcohol is one of the most important risk factors for breast cancer even if there is a tendency to underestimate it he adds Saverio Cinieri, president of the Italian Medical Oncology Association (Aiom) —. The consumption of drinks, such as wine and beer, should not be criminalized, for numerous scientific publications have highlighted the connection with breast cancer. Then there are other overt risk factors such as reproductive-hormonal ones including early menarche, late menopause, not having had children or older age at first pregnancy. Finally, don’t forget the sedentary lifestylea “disease” that affects 31% of Italian adults and 18% of the population of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
More and more personalized therapies
The Focus on breast cancer has reached its twentieth edition and this represents an opportunity to retrace the scientific advances of the last two decades. In the early 2000s, five-year survival was just over 76%, while now we’ve reached almost 90% – points out Michelino De Laurentiis, director of the Department of Breast and Thoraco-pulmonary at the Pascale Cancer Institute of Naples —. The merit of this extraordinary success can be found in our greater ability to define and identify the various subtypes of breast cancer: today we know in fact that there are many different types of breast cancer and it is essential to know which histological and molecular subtype we are dealing with in order to be able to choose, among the many available therapies, the most effective one based on the individual case. Today, in Italy, they live more than 834,000 women after being diagnosed with breast cancer: some are cured, others are being treated, about 45,000 undergo treatments and checks for metastatic cancer while leading a life as normal as possible. Today we talk about precision medicine but, in the case of breast pathology, it is interesting to analyze the concept of precision surgery – goes on Samuel Massarut, director of Breast Surgical Oncology at the Aviano CRO —. Interventions are increasingly personalized on the basis of the characteristics of the patients and the disease. In many cases, axillary lymphadenectomy can be avoidedat the mammary level is increasingly conservative, reconstructive surgery allows you to achieve excellent results and, where the clinical context permits, intraoperative radiation treatment can be proposed.
The challenge: to improve care for those who already have metastases
One of the most difficult challenges we face every day is breast cancer in the metastatic stage,” he explains Lucia DelMastrofull professor and director of the Medical Oncology Clinic of the IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital, University of Genoa —. There are about 14 thousand new cases that we register every year throughout Italy and for these women it is essential to define a treatment path that is as personalized as possible and that always falls within a multidisciplinary management of the neoplasm. Therapeutic decisions must not be taken only by the oncologist, but in concert with professional figures from the various disciplines. Especially against the more aggressive forms and in those that have reached a metastatic stage, specialists have signaled the need for innovative strategies to extend the life of patients or to increase the number of healings. In the last 20 years the role of the anatomo-pathologist has grown exponentially and has now assumed a fundamental importance – he concludes Joseph Avenue, director of the Department of Pathological Anatomy and Laboratory Medicine at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan —. International research, also thanks to important Italian contributions, managed to identify specific biomarkers for the various forms of breast cancer. These represent targets for new therapies, which have been shown to be effective in both advanced and early disease. There are at least seven different biomarkers for as many treatments.
February 23, 2023 (change February 23, 2023 | 09:27)
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