(ANSA) – ROME, FEBRUARY 10 – Colorectal cancer is the second most frequent in Italy after breast cancer, with 48,100 cases in 2022, or +4,400 in 2 years. A real “epidemic”, yet 7 out of 10 people do not adhere to the screening and do not perform the test for the search for occult blood in the faeces, which the health system offers free of charge every two years to all 50-69 year olds. For this reason, the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) is launching a major awareness project to improve adherence to the test, which will start in the coming weeks. Commercials, brochures, a social media campaign will be created and the involvement of pharmacies is expected.
The announcement comes from the Aiom Conference on gastrointestinal neoplasms, starting in Padua.
The occult blood test has been shown to reduce mortality by about 30%. Not only.
Precisely this neoplasm, in the pre-pandemic era, was the example of the effectiveness of prevention programs: in 2020, the incidence rates were down by 20% compared to the 2013 peak. But the stop to screening during the pandemic has nullified the results achieved. Today, says the president Aiom Saverio Cinieri, “we are witnessing an epidemic of new diagnoses. In the North, 45% of citizens carry out the occult blood test, in the Center 31%, in the South only 10%. Furthermore, only 5 Regions exceed the target of 50% participation: Veneto (almost 70%), Trentino, Valle d’Aosta, Emilia-Romagna and Friuli Venezia Giulia”. Even for this neoplasm, he explains, precision oncology is crucial, which defines the molecular characteristics that help us establish the most effective treatment for the individual patient. However, prevention is a priority: “In 90% of cases – explains Sara Lonardi, director of Oncology 3 at the Istituto Oncologico Veneto Irccs in Padua – this tumor develops from precancerous lesions. This is why screening is so effective: it allows us to remove polyps before they become neoplastic”. But lifestyles also have a great weight. Among the risk factors, concludes Filippo Pietrantonio of Gastroenterological Oncology at the National Cancer Institute of Milan, “include incorrect lifestyles, in particular sedentary lifestyle, smoking, overweight, obesity, excessive consumption of refined flours and sugars, red meat, alcohol and sausages and reduced intake of vegetable fibres”. (HANDLE).
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