prevention strategies work but still few exploit them – breaking latest news

According to the most recent estimates one out of three Italians will fall ill with cancer in their lifetime and the cases in our country are on the rise: they have been registered almost 400 thousand in 2022 and growth, considering they are more frequent pathologies after the age of 65, appears mostly connected togeneral aging of the population. The numbers also indicate that in Italy mortality is decreasing (there are, however, over 180,000 deaths per year) and that, on average, 60% of patients are still alive five years after diagnosis. And if, inevitably, a cancer diagnosis continues to frighten, too many compatriots don’t know or don’t put into practice those few good and effective rules to limit the chances of getting sick.

A third of cancer cases are preventable

It has now been amply demonstrated by numerous studies conducted around the world that one in three cases is avoidable – he underlines Paul Veronesipresident of the Umberto Veronesi Foundation, committed since its inception in 2003 to prevention and support for scientific research —. Over a third of tumors would not develop in the face of correct lifestyles. Not smoking (or quitting with concrete benefits at any age), exercising regularly, following a balanced diet and not having extra pounds are simple ruleswhich have tangible consequences for keeping away the risk of cancer in healthy people and the danger of relapses in those who are already ill.

the slogan

Specialists have been repeating it for years, but the message is struggling to transform into a concrete commitment. This is also why it is celebrated every year February 4 is World Cancer Day aimed at governments, institutions, politicians, citizens, patient associations, elderly and young people with a single goal: to unify efforts, each doing their part, so as to concretely reduce the impact that cancer has on our lives. Close the care gap, or rather eliminate disparities in care, is the slogan chosen for this year’s edition. Internationally, the day focuses on the power of knowledge and the elimination of inequalities,” he comments Saverio Cinieripresident of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) —. Correct information can save livesbut even if the ranks of compatriots who leave the disease behind, or who live with it for years, are constantly growing, every day about a thousand Italians receive a diagnosis of cancer. Only thanks to prevention, if each of us were careful, there could be 350 less.

Prevention

The latest data (2021) collected by the PASSI and PASSI d’Argento systems, coordinated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanit, indicate however that in Italy 24% of 18-69 year olds smoke and one in four (22%) consume more than a pack of cigarettes a day. Almost one in six adults (or 16% of citizens, especially males, very young people aged 18-24 and living in the North) makes alcohol consumption more risky to healthby quantity or method of intake: 8% for excessive episodic consumption (the so-called binge drinking), another 8% for alcoholic consumption exclusively or mainly between meals and 2% for high habitual consumption. A sedentary lifestyle affects a third of citizens: more frequent among women, increases with age and is more widespread in the South. Finally, more than four out of ten adults are in excess weight (over 32.5% overweight and 10.4% obese), with obesity being less frequent among men and increasing significantly with age. Faulty lifestyle data has become worrying e we need to reverse an alarming worsening trend – adds Cinieri -. Over the course of their lives, about one in two men and one in three women in our country will have to deal with cancer, which today the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease. it is essential that institutions on the one hand and individual citizens on the other do their part to prevent the onset of cancer.

Healthy lifestyles

What to answer to those who are skeptical about the usefulness of healthy lifestyles and cite, for example, the most recent reports with the disappearance of young and fit football players like Sinisa Mihajlovic and Gianluca Vialli? Unfortunately large numbers, statistics, are valid and very useful percentages on a scientific level, then there are individual cases, people, famous or not — he replies Paul Veronesi, who is also director of the Division of Surgical Breasts at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan —. Every day we see non-elderly, non-tobacco, non-overweight patients who unfortunately fall ill. The onset of a neoplasm is not always due to incorrect habits, but we certainly know that 30% and more of cases can be traced back to choices that can be modified. Perhaps the clearest example is that of lung cancer: 85 out of 100 people who get sick are current or former smokers.

Early diagnosis

Among the best practices to follow, there is another simple trick that saves life: submit to those checks that are offered free of charge in Italy to those most at risk of developing cancer and which, however, many compatriots refuse. Mammography for breast cancer, fecal occult blood test for colorectal, Pap test ed esame per il Papillomavirus (HPV test) for the cervix, Spiral CT of the lungs they can discover the presence of precancerous lesions (that have not yet transformed into malignant forms) or of early stage cancer, as the therapies can be simpler, less invasive and increase the chances of definitive healing. If deaths from cancer have steadily decreased in recent years thanks both to the new therapies that have become available thanks to the successes of scientific research, and to early diagnosis – concludes Veronesi -: It is essential that people invited to screenings do not throw the letter in the bin. It is important, in case of suspicious symptoms, to speak immediately to a doctor without wasting time, which can be very precious.

Inequalities

The estimates presented on the occasion of World Cancer Day focus on a number: as many as 75% of premature deaths from cancer are predicted to occur in low- and middle-income countries by 2030. Inequalities, however, are also growing on the economic front (between those who can afford to pay for the best therapies and those who cannot, or the inconveniences that, even in Italy, occur due to the impact that the disease has on work and on the expenses of the whole family) or socio-cultural, passing through differences in gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, levels of education and information. Because of this the 2022-2024 global campaign focuses on the commitment to eliminate disparities, in treatments, prevention and information. With this same intention, to give all people useful and scientifically correct information, from the collaboration between the Umberto Veronesi Foundation and Corriere della Sera born 20 years ago the section of the Cancer Office of Health Courier.