Traveling is good for your health especially if you board a Frecciarosa, the special train dedicated to the prevention of breast cancer. An event that returns in October, the ‘pink month’ dedicated precisely to the early diagnosis of this female neoplasm. What starts today is the thirteenth edition of ‘Frecciarosa’, an initiative of the IncontraDonna Foundation and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane with the patronage of the Ministry of Health and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and with the participation of AIOM (Italian Association of Medical Oncology ), of Bodies and Institutions. The objective of the project is to promote the prevention of breast cancer, the most widespread in our country, through a series of initiatives. The testimonials of the 2023 edition – in addition to Alberto Matano – are Luca Ward, Elena Sofia Ricci, Patrizia Mirigliani and Lucrezia Guidone.
A pilot stop in Rome
The Frecciarosa initiative, supported by the non-conditioning contribution of numerous companies, including Gilead and Seagen, has represented for 13 years now a consolidated model of community awareness and proximity to the population to convey health and prevention messages throughout the national territory. Last year, 25,000 travelers were involved, 15,000 health handbooks were distributed and more than a thousand services were carried out on board the train. “Through the distribution of the Health Vademecum on trains, and thanks to the support of our doctors and our volunteers – underlines Adriana Bonifacino, president of the IncontraDonna Foundation – we encourage and involve families, women, men, children and older people, to take care of themselves, we contribute to strengthening the value of our National Health System by offering information and we spread the culture of prevention. This year the initiative is enriched by the Pilot Stage scheduled in Rome at the Ostiense Station where the mobile clinic of the Lazio Region will be positioned, in collaboration with Aslroma2 and IDI IRCSS Rome, on 19-20-21 October in which mammograms and ultrasounds will be carried out for women aged between 45 and 49, as well as awareness raising and booking of the three screenings. Our volunteers and medical staff will be at the complete disposal of the traveling and non-traveling population, to provide information and support.”
Still many cases of breast cancer
In 2022 alone, over 55,700 new cases of breast cancer were registered across the Peninsula. “In the last 10 years – he states Saverio Cinieri, National President of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) – we have witnessed a true revolution on the treatment front. Personalized medicine, immunotherapy, genomics, more in-depth molecular investigations and more specific pharmacological treatments have brought important results. At the same time, we are able to better safeguard the patient’s quality of life. There persists slowdowns in the approval of the most innovative drugs and strong cultural resistance to the enrollment of patients in clinical trials. Overall, however, we are seeing improvements that allow us to combat a disease that is experiencing constant growth throughout the country. The cure rate stands at 66% while the five-year survival rate stands at 88%. But too few women participate in screening campaigns, such as mammography, especially in the Southern Regions. We must promote secondary prevention: this is also why AIOM and the AIOM Foundation continue to support Frecciarosa”.
Breast cancer, the social report on the value of volunteering presented 26 July 2023
On-board consultations and the ‘vaccination disc’
Until October 31st – international month for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer – doctors and volunteers will be on board high-speed trains, but also on intercity and regional trains, to reach a vast and diverse audience. The objective is to carry out consultations “on board” the trains while an information desk with volunteers will be operational in the Freccia Lounges of Rome Termini and Milan Centrale to provide information on the importance of prevention and early diagnosis. For the first time, Frecciarosa also includes activities under the patronage of the Lazio Region. From 19 to 21 October at the Ostiense station an awareness campaign dedicated to all three screenings (mammography, pap test, occult blood in the stool) will take place. Another novelty of the 2023 edition is the distribution of the “Vaccination Disc”, an easy-to-consult tool for promoting a culture of vaccinations at all ages.
Metastatic breast cancer, a new effective therapy available 12 September 2023
The Health Vademecum
The strong point always remains the distribution on board the train of the “Health Vademecum”: an information brochure for correct lifestyles aimed at cancer prevention. This year the booklet has also been translated into English and is available on the arrowrosa.it website, where teleconsultations will also be scheduled two days a week for the entire month. “Also thanks to our trains, the journey towards the well-being of the Italian population, in particular the female population, continues. With the Frecciarosa project – underlines the President of Trenitalia Stefano Cuzzilla – we therefore want to consolidate and spread a common culture in favor of cancer prevention, in particular the fight against breast cancer, offering widespread medical support and specialist activity at the service of the entire country”.
Metastatic breast cancer, who listens to patients? 19 September 2023
Institutional support
This edition was also enriched by a prestigious recognition, the Medal of the President of the Republic for the high social and national value of the initiative. “I am firmly convinced that the fight against cancer can only be won through a decisive investment in prevention activities – states the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci in the preface to the Vademecum created for the initiative. Now more than ever we are aware that investing in prevention and health education is the key to building healthier societies and improving the lives of every person.” It reiterates the same concept too Francesco Vaia, Director General of Prevention of the Ministry of Health: “Prevention – he states – must be our eleventh commandment, starting from lifestyles. Promoting the culture of prevention and early diagnosis is in fact fundamental and the Frecciarosa initiative has the merit of actively bringing these issues to the attention of citizens”.
Breast cancer: why only 50% of genomic tests are prescribed by Irma D’Aria 13 July 2023
“We are proud to be alongside the Incontradonna Foundation again this year – he underlines Enrica Giorgetti, General Director of Farmindustria – on the occasion of the thirteenth edition of the Frecciarosa project. Today in the world, thanks to the commitment of the pharmaceutical industry, hundreds of drugs are being developed for diseases that exclusively or predominantly affect women with a commitment to research (which in Italy, in total, today is close to 2 billion euros, of which over 700 million in clinical trials) which is also growing in gender issues. Progress in care that very often depends on women, who in our country are the majority in R&D.”