Microcytoma: a little-known name for an aggressive form of lung cancer (also called small cell lung cancer), which affects six thousand people every year in Italy. The new campaign is dedicated to them “Time for Lung – every moment counts”, To remember the importance of timing in the management of the disease: from early diagnosis to rapid intervention, in order to access therapies.
The campaign, promoted by AstraZeneca with the sponsorship of the association WALCE – Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe onlus, lives online on the site Simply Me – Time for lung, with a part dedicated to clinicians and one to patients and caregivers: there are articles and videos in which oncologists, psycho-oncologists and other medical specialists explain the disease and the treatment path.
“Small cell lung cancer is considered an aggressive tumor because of the speed with which it increases in size and the high ability to metastasize at a distance and in a short time,” he explains. Silvia Novello, President of WALCE onlus and Full Professor of Medical Oncology at the Department of Oncology of the University of Turin: “A timely diagnosis could allow to intercept and treat the tumor at an earlier stage, when the risk of recurrence is lower, or at least to provide as soon as possible the best available treatment in extended disease, which at this time is represented by the combination of chemo and immunotherapy ”.
In fact, 60% of patients receive the diagnosis in an advanced or metastatic stage of the disease, when metastases are already present. Smoking is the main risk factor: smokers are 60 times more likely to develop it. “For this – concludes Novello – the ‘Time for Lung – every moment counts’ campaign also wants to inform patients about the importance of the factors and behaviors that have the power to influence the course of therapies, such as smoking habits” .