May 8 is celebrated all over the world Day against Ovarian Cancer, and 140 associations from 50 countries that join the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition, including ours, are committed to raising awareness among women and making everyone aware of a disease that is still little talked about today, but which represents one of the top 5 causes of death from cancer among women between 50 and 69 years.
A confetti mural
At the center of all initiatives is’Dot Wall‘, the large mural on ovarian cancer under construction on the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition website: all women in the world, and their friends and relatives, can go to the site, and clicking on the “joint the wall‘, they will be able to paint their own colored coriander until they get, all together, a large fresco, a symbol of the disease. Each coriander will represent a person involved in the fight against ovarian cancer. The World Ovarian Cancer Coalition also calls all women, the scientific community and institutions together to testify their commitment with the hashtag #PowerfulTogether.
Female tumors, the Azalea of the Airc Research returns on May 9th
Survival on the rise
In Italy, 49,800 women live with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer and 5,200 are those who get sick every year, the survival of these patients at 5 years is 40%. A low percentage, but which should not be interpreted as a defeat: “Far from it, it is rather a conquest”, he says. Sunday Lorusso, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Catholic University of Rome and head of Clinical Research of the Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS: “We must not forget that we are talking about a form of cancer without screening tests or prevention tools (such as the Pap test for cancer of the uterus or mammography for breast cancer, ed.). And which has no specific symptoms of onset: the signs of disease, for example abdominal swelling or pain, do you need? urinating often, constipation or difficulty? digestive, can be confused with very common ailments. Here, all this implies that in 80% of cases the diagnosis of ovarian cancer arrives when the disease is in an advanced stage, at the 3rd or 4th stage, worsening the prognosis. This is why women need to pick up on the signs and if they are persistent they should talk to a doctor. Dedicating a day to illness increases knowledge. And increasing knowledge increases the possibility of timely diagnosis. Which can save life ”.
Different genetics and targeted drugs
While waiting to be able to increase the healing rate of women with ovarian cancer, we can extend their lives. “And this thanks to surgery, medicine, but above all thanks to the fact that today we know much more about the molecular profile of this tumor”, explains the oncologist: “We know that it is not just one tumor, but many different ones, with genetics different. We know that 30% of all ovarian cancers are linked to alterations in the BRCA1 / 2 genes, and 20% to abnormalities of other DNA repair genes, other than BRCA, and are HRD-deficient tumors. Recognizing the molecular nature of these tumors means that we can treat them with targeted drugs, drugs that we already have available, parp-inhibitors ”.
Genes are needed to save the ovary
by Tiziana Moriconi
For this reason it is important that the patients not only know more about the disease, but that they are treated in the reference centers where the volume of ovarian carcinomas is high, where, in addition to good surgeons, a group of experts operate: the medical oncologist, the biologist. molecular, the dedicated pathologist, the psychologist, the dedicated nurses. “All these figures – underlines the expert – make the difference and accompanying and supporting the patients during an articulated path that lasts at least 5 years”.
Ovarian cancer, good quality of life thanks to parp inhibitors
by Tina Simoniello
A crowdfunding campaign for the Pink Trainer app
Accompanying and supporting women with ovarian cancer, doing it in the round in their care path must be done, and it can also be done with an app. The Policlinico S. Orsola in Bologna took care of it Pink Trainer, an application for all smartphones that allows patients to communicate interactively with the doctors and experts who follow them. Pink Trainer, this is the name, allows you to remotely monitor the effects of treatments and also provides a personalized physical activity and nutrition plan, ad hoc for individual patients. To allow 70 patients of the Oncological Gynecology of St. Ursula to test this digital oncological health tool, Loto Onlus has activated the crowdfunding campaign (on the IdeaGinger platform “Wellness just a click away: innovation in the ward!“). The purpose of the fundraising is to raise at least 5 thousand euros: once this figure has been reached, the Foundation will triple the sum up to 15 thousand euros to reach 20 thousand euros, the total cost of the initiative. “Making this tool operational and disseminating would be a very important goal for patients suffering from gynecological neoplasms”, explains Pierandrea De Iaco, director of Oncological Gynecology of the S. Orsola Polyclinic: “Oncologists, surgeons, but also nutritionists, psychologists, physiotherapists and graduates in motor sciences would be in constant contact with the women in care and could guide them day by day with ad hoc indications. In particular, nutritional advice and targeted physical activity are important allies in the preparation and recovery from oncological surgery. In this way we would be able to get the most out of our therapies ”.
Ovarian cancer, a personal trainer via app for patients
Appointment on Fb to talk about clinical studies
Acto Onlus, Alliance against ovarian cancer, for the 2021 world day edition organized a series of initiatives from north to south and, on 8 May at 15.30 a direct FB on the disease, in which clinicians and researchers will participate. The online seminar is open to patients, their families and the general public. The theme is the importance of clinical trials. With these events Acto intends not only to celebrate the day, but also to promote one of the 6 objectives of the Universal Map of Ovarian Cancer presented by the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition, which recognizes patient participation in clinical trials as a global priority.
50 years of legal contraception, a question of women’s rights and health
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