In the month dedicated to raising awareness of blood cancers, to remember the progress of scientific research in providing new hope to patients and giving voice to the still unsatisfied care needs of around half a million Italians, ‘#SavingTime. More time thanks to research on blood tumors’ with concerts at dawn – the beginning of a new day, a metaphor for the new hopes opened by scientific research – open to the public, in 3 cities in Italy.
The initiative, the first promoted by Lilly in the area of hematological tumorshas the patronage of the Gimema Foundation–Franco Mandelli Onlus, Ail, the Italian Association against Leukemia, Lymphomas and Myelomas and Aladdin’s Lamp Ets, #SavingTime – as stated in a note – will bring classical music outside its usual confines, into open-air venues, making it a metaphor for scientific research: just as classical music, traditionally confined to theaters and concert halls, is brought outside announcing the birth of a new day in Italian squares, scientific research, the result of the harmonious collaboration between multiple professionals, acquires value when it leaves the laboratories and enters people’s daily lives. The 3 concerts will be held in September in Rome, in collaboration with the Conservatorio S. Cecilia on the 14th, Naples with the participation of the Conservatorio di Musica di San Pietro a Majella on September 21st and Milan with the musicians of the Orchestra Sinfonica del Conservatorio di Musica ‘Giuseppe Verdi’ di Milano, on the 28th. The songs performed will later become a playlist, available on Spotify, which can fill the silence of the waiting rooms in the hematology departments of hospitals, offering a moment of comfort and relief to patients and caregivers.
“Blood cancers can be very aggressive and characterized by a high rate of recurrence with significant consequences on the quality of life of patients, for which there are still no definitive therapeutic options – comments Pierluigi Zinzani, director of the departmental program of Diagnosis and therapies of lymphomas and chronic lymphoproliferative syndromes at the Institute of Hematology and Medical Oncology L. and A. Seràgnoli of the IRCCS Policlinico di Sant’Orsola and director of the School of Specialization in Hematology at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna – Fortunately, the progress made in the knowledge and treatment of these neoplasms is among the most notable in the oncology field and the scientific goals achieved, thanks to research, have in some cases radically changed treatment paths, life expectancy and management requirements. For other forms of cancer, however, there are still therapeutic needs to be filled, for which we confidently await the arrival of new therapies”.
Blood cancers include a heterogeneous group of diseases with different etiologies, prognosis and frequency that can be divided into three large macrocategories: lymphomas (48%), leukemias (33%) and myelomas (19%) that affect the immune system, bone marrow cells and lymph nodes. They represent approximately 10% of all tumors and, with 30 thousand new diagnoses each year, are the fifth most frequent among all neoplasms.
Today, the treatment of hematological neoplasms uses pharmacological solutions belonging to different categories (chemotherapeutics, monoclonal antibodies, immunomodulators, proteasome inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, cellular immunotherapy), therapies that over time have allowed for an increase, on the one hand, in recovery rates and, on the other, in life expectancy. “For some forms of tumors, the therapeutic objective is represented by the chronicization of the tumor, a goal that until recently was unthinkable. Today, in fact, therapeutic innovation and the availability of treatments for relapses following initial therapies allow us to extend the control of the disease for a long period of time, guaranteeing the patient a better quality of life and a life expectancy that in some cases is similar to healthy individuals – observes Paolo Ghia, professor of Medical Oncology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, director of the Strategic Program on Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan and co-Chair Gimema Working Party Chronic Lymphoproliferative Syndromes – Living with the disease, even if a definitive cure is not yet achieved, is therefore a concrete prospect for an increasingly high number of patients”.
The world of blood diseases has been revolutionized by the possibility of treating some blood diseases – especially neoplastic ones – even without chemotherapy. For the future, the most relevant scientific innovations aim to respond to the still unmet needs of those patients who have access to a still extremely limited range of treatment options. “Research in hematology, in which Italy plays a leading role – explains Armando Santoro, director of the Cancer Center of Humanitas Rozzano, Milan – has made extraordinary progress. We are exploring new frontiers and new opportunities to improve the outcome of our patients with hematological malignancies, thanks to the innovation that allows us – and in the future I hope even more – increasingly personalized therapies”.
Ever more advanced therapiestailored and effective, increasing recovery rates and expectations are the directions of research, with the ultimate goal of significantly improving the quality of life of the patient who not only lives with the disease and its symptoms, but also with the related emotional and psychological burden. “To improve the quality of life of the patient – says Giuseppe Toro, president of Ail – it is important to be at his side throughout the course of the disease. Ail strongly believes that scientific research, innovation and social and health care are necessary to each other, which is why we are committed to creating, together with researchers, clinicians and institutions, a human-scale healthcare model, which truly puts the patient and his needs at the center and guarantees fair and quality care for all”. As Davide Petruzzelli, president of La Lampada di Aladino Ets and national coordinator of Favo hematological neoplasms, underlines, “scientific innovation and its positive results in controlling the disease and reducing mortality rates are irrefutable. However, to fully exploit the potential of innovative therapies, it is necessary to work so that the care of the person is global, from a health and social point of view, through equal access to therapies, a simplification of bureaucratic processes, more time to dedicate to patients and their needs and an implementation of psychological support. Only in this way can we ensure the patient a longer and above all quality life expectancy, and this is what makes the difference”.
Diagnosis of blood cancer has a significant impact on the patient’s life who are often forced to change their daily lives and those of their families due to prolonged periods of hospitalization, complex treatment pathways, physical isolation due to immunosuppression, and difficulty reintegrating into the social and work environment. The prospect, which comes from scientific research, of a longer period of life thanks to a treatment that will keep the disease in the background, represents a source of confidence for patients in the face of current uncertainty.
“Our commitment to researching innovative drugs in the oncology area began 50 years ago and today has extended to neoplastic hematological diseases, thus expanding our skills – says Elias Khalil, president and CEO of Lilly Italy Hub – Entering the hematological area for us means giving patients more time, more quality time to live their lives, even those affected by little-recognized diseases and who until yesterday did not have the opportunity to live their lives fully until the end. We hope that the research projects currently underway can confirm the efficacy and safety of the drugs under study and demonstrate significant benefits for patients compared to the therapies available today”.
#Saving #time #kicks #research #hematological #neoplasms
