Loizzo: “Overcoming North-South disparities in lung cancer treatment”

“There is a great lack of homogeneity in treatment between North and South: thoracic surgeries, for example, are more present in Northern centers while they are scarcely present in Central-Southern Italy. There is therefore a need for greater organization of regional networks”. This was said by Simona Loizzo, deputy of the League and group leader in the Social Affairs commission, on the occasion of the press conference to present the new Position Paper “Lung Cancer: Early Diagnosis is the main path”, created with the unconditional contribution of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, which was held this morning in Rome.

“In the South, prevention numbers are limited and this translates into lower diagnostic quality and entry into diagnostic-therapeutic pathways, therefore also into treatment inequity, which means lower survival in some regions of the country for some pathologies, including including lung cancer”, adds Loizzo, for which it is necessary to “Increase the fund of the National Health System dedicated to all screening and, in particular, encourage the census of the population at risk for lung cancer, therefore smokers and people genetically predisposed. It is necessary to strengthen lung cancer screening, the incidence of which has increased sharply. We believe that subjects at risk who also have a demonstrable genetic predisposition should be immediately included in screening with lung CT scans because prevention is fundamental for us”, underlines Loizzo. The objective is “obviously to identify a very small tumor and intervene immediately” , he adds. “There is a significant allocation for screening in the years 2022-2025 and we must draw from this fund to strengthen them all. But lung cancer screening today represents an absolute priority,” underlines Loizzo.

“Today, screening in Italy is supported only for 3 types of cancer – breast, cervical and colorectal – but there is also a need for lung cancer, given the 44 thousand cases recorded every year”, explains Loizzo. “We are fighting a big battle for screening. I remember that at the beginning of my parliamentary adventure we tried to increase the Fund in the first Budget Law. We don’t want to interrupt this mission. The Fund must be implemented. For tumors that are not yet eligible for reimbursement for screening, we must implement economic resources,” she reiterates.