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Oncologists have colon cancer screening extended to 74 years

2020-02-15T16:02:53.714Z


In Italy 89,400 citizens were affected by gastrointestinal tumors in 2019. The Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) notes it on the occasion of the conference 'News in GI Oncology' in Vicenza on therapeutic perspectives. (HANDLE)


In Italy 89,400 citizens were affected by gastrointestinal tumors in 2019. The Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) notes it on the occasion of the conference 'News in GI Oncology' in Vicenza on therapeutic perspectives. Based on this data, AIOM's request is that colorectal screening be extended up to 74 years.

In 2019, gastrointestinal tumors in Italy affected about 89,400 people (49,000 colorectal, 14,300 stomach, 13,500 pancreas, 12,600 liver). The greatest decrease is recorded in colorectal cancer, a direct consequence of the effectiveness of the screening programs (search for occult blood in the stool, SOF), which allow the detection of suspect lesions at an early stage. In 5 years (2014-2019) the drop was 2,800 diagnoses. In our country, however, there are still clear territorial differences both in the adhesion and in the coverage of the test, which is able to reduce mortality from this neoplasm by about 20%. In particular, coverage in the North and Center is almost complete (92% North, 95% Center), while the South is still below 50%. There were also clear discrepancies in membership (52% North, 35% Center, 24% South). For this reason AIOM launches an appeal to the institutions for the SOF test to be extended up to 74 years (today it is guaranteed by the National Health Service from 50 to 69 years), a choice adopted so far only by some Regions. "65% of colorectal cancer patients are alive 5 years after diagnosis - explains Giordano Beretta, AIOM National President and Head of Medical Oncology at Humanitas Gavazzeni in Bergamo -. Screening is able to identify, in addition to the presence of a tumor every 850 asymptomatic people, also adenomas, that is polyps, potentially capable of turning into cancer for every 150 individuals analyzed.

Their removal before the transformation into neoplasm allows a reduction of new tumor cases in the following years. For this reason, it is important that the test is also extended to those over 70. In this way we can save more lives. "In 2017, 277,930 citizens with over 70 years were invited to colorectal screening (4.5% of the total). the main one was carried out by the programs of Lazio (125,026 guests, equal to 45% of the national total), Lombardy (69,221 guests, 25%), Campania (41,831 guests, 15%), Tuscany (17,046 guests, 6%) and Umbria ( 14,980 guests, 5%). In Lazio and Umbria, the extension of the invitation to 74 is systematic. "Colorectal cancer in Italy is the second most frequent cancer after breast cancer - underlines Giuseppe Aprile, Director of the Clinical Oncology Department of the San Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza -. In Veneto, in 2019, 3,900 new cases were diagnosed (2,100 men, 1,800 women). Among the risk factors, we mention incorrect lifestyles, in particular overweight, sedentary lifestyle and an unbalanced and too rich in fat diet. Primary prevention is fundamental, as well as being able to obtain the elimination of precursors and an early stage diagnosis.

If we identify the neoplasm during the early stages, we can intervene promptly and achieve the best results in terms of healing. 20% of cases are discovered late, when metastases have already developed. The prognosis of these patients has improved significantly in recent years, with a survival of around 30 months. These steps forward are linked on the one hand to new biological knowledge, on the other to the identification of particular molecular targets that can be controlled with targeted therapies "The Vicenza conference is focused on therapeutic advances in all gastrointestinal cancers." Precision medicine has also represented a turning point in liver cancer - concludes President Beretta -. The approval by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) of a targeted therapy that has shown, for the first time in ten years, to offer more benefits than the standard, that is in patients never treated before, has been more recent of care. And in metastatic pancreatic cancer, which is particularly difficult to treat, maintenance treatment for the first time in patients with mutations in the BRCA1 and / or BRCA2 genes has improved progression-free survival. Thus, a path already successfully followed in other types of malignancies, in which patients receive therapies based on their mutations in the gene-molecular profile of the tumor, opens up also in this disease ".

Source: ansa

All life articles on 2020-02-15

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