The new experimental breast cancer prevention project, “Together to Prevent”, born in 2022, allowed 129 Florentine women in socioeconomic difficulty to carry out a free breast examination. Between November 2022 and December 2023, women aged over 25 and assisted by local ACLI and Caritas participated in this initiative.
INSIGHTS
Breast cancer, obesity increases risks: here’s why. The study by the University of Calabria
The project
The project (which won one of the loans made available by Corri la Vita through the 2022 tender) was born after the pandemic, after having noted that in the Florentine area as in all of Tuscany, the worsening of the socio-economic situation affecting groups of the population who were already close to the poverty level, has led to obvious health consequences: many women have given up on having check-ups and tests. The project sought to promote a new model to increase women’s attention to the practice of cancer prevention.
The visit
The breast examinations carried out by a breast specialist doctor assisted by a nurse also include an orientation towards oncological prevention, correct lifestyles and self-examination. There were no particular clinical situations that required referring the woman to a breast center for further investigation, which in any case were guaranteed in breast centers in Ispro and the Florentine area. The visits were carried out by the Lilt team directly in the Acli and Caritas facilities. For 4 women the breast specialist requested an in-depth ultrasound which was performed with an ultrasound acquired as part of the project. In all cases, a Lilt doctor’s report was delivered to share with your doctor.
Women were also offered, in an innovative way, an assessment of their hereditary risk, based on a grid validated in the Emilia-Romagna Region. For 6 patients the risk was found to be “worthy of further investigation”, hence the suggestion to contact a genetics center of the public system for an initial evaluation. Among those who declared that they had never accepted the invitation to cancer screening programs (nor that they carry it out spontaneously), 40% asked to be involved in primary prevention initiatives: 71 women expressed interest in lifestyle initiatives , nutrition and smoking cessation.
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