Evaluation of a training course for general practitioners within the melanoma multimedia education programme of the Italian Melanoma Intergroup: a study protocol.

The text discusses the role of general practitioners (GPs) in the prevention and early diagnosis of melanoma, a type of skin cancer. It highlights the need for GPs to be able to recognize suspicious skin lesions and refer patients to specialist dermatology centers. However, many GPs lack comprehensive training in diagnosing melanoma.

Factors affecting treatment decisions for endoscopically resected low- and high-risk malignant colorectal polyps in a screening setting.

Introduction: The European Guidelines for colorectal cancer screening of 2006 state that only high-risk endoscopically resected malignant colorectal polyps (MCPs), defined as poor/no differentiation or positive resection margins or lymphovascular invasion, require colonic resection.

Methods: A multicentre series of 954 patients with screen-detected MCP (northern Italy, 2005-2016, age 50-69) was studied to identify (1) the factors affecting the choice of colonic resection, and (2) the factors associated with deviation from the European Guidelines for low- and high-risk patients. Data analysis was based on multilevel logistic regression models.

Evaluation of an Italian Population-Based Programme for Risk Assessment and Genetic Counselling and Testing for BRCA1/2-Related Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer after 10 Years of Operation: An Observational Study Protocol.

Hereditary breast/ovarian cancer (HBOC) syndrome is caused by the inheritance of monoallelic germline BRCA1/2 gene mutations. If BRCA1/2 mutation carriers are identified before the disease develops, effective actions against HBOC can be taken, including intensive screening, risk-reducing mastectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy, and risk-reducing medications. The Italian National Prevention Plan mandates the creation of regional BRCA genetic testing programmes.

Budget impact analysis of introducing digital breast tomosynthesis in breast cancer screening in Italy.

Purpose: This study quantifies the impact on budget and cost per health benefit of implementing digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) in place of digital mammography (DM) for breast cancer screening among asymptomatic women in Italy.

Methods: A budget impact analysis and a cost consequence analysis were conducted using parameters from the MAITA project and literature. The study considered four scenarios for DBT implementation, i.

Vulvar Inspection During Cervical Cancer Screening Procedures: The Ugly Reality.

Vulvar examination during procedures for cervical carcinoma screening (CCS) can be a valid chance for early diagnosis of vulvar diseases and precancerous lesions. With this aim an online questionnaire was sent to the members of the Italian Cervical Carcinoma Screening Group (GISCi) from either first level group (FLG, Pap/human papillomavirus test sampling) or second level group (SLG, colposcopy and treatments) to assess if and how vulvar examination was performed. 86% of FLG and 90.

Organizational impact of systemic implementation of digital breast tomosynthesis as a primary test for breast cancer screening in Italy.

Purpose: We present a comprehensive investigation into the organizational, social, and ethical impact of implementing digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) as a primary test for breast cancer screening in Italy. The analyses aimed to assess the feasibility of DBT specifically for all women aged 45-74, women aged 45-49 only, or those with dense breasts only.

Methods: Questions were framed according to the European Network of Health Technology Assessment (EuNetHTA) Screening Core Model to produce evidence for the resources, equity, acceptability, and feasibility domains of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) decision framework.

North-south differences in incidence and surveillance of cutaneous malignant melanoma in Italy.

Background: In Italy, the incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma is two-fold higher in the north than in the south. This gradient might be associated with differences in incidence trends and disease surveillance. We compared the time trends in incidence rates, mortality rates, dermatologic office visit rates and skin biopsy rates between the Emilia-Romagna Region (northern Italy) and the Sicily Region (southern Italy).

Indicators of cure for women living after uterine and ovarian cancers: a population-based study.

This study aims to estimate long-term survival, cancer prevalence, and several cure indicators for Italian women with gynecological cancers. Thirty-one cancer registries, representing 47% of the Italian female population, were included. Mixture cure models were used to estimate net survival, cure fraction, time to cure (when 5-year conditional net survival becomes > 95%), cure prevalence (women who will not die of cancer), and already cured (living longer than time to cure).

All-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality in the population of a large Italian area contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (1980-2018).

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are associated with many adverse health conditions. Among the main effects is carcinogenicity in humans, which deserves to be further clarified. An evident association has been reported for kidney cancer and testicular cancer.

Cure indicators and prevalence by stage at diagnosis for breast and colorectal cancer patients: A population-based study in Italy.

People alive many years after breast (BC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses are increasing. This paper aimed to estimate the indicators of cancer cure and complete prevalence for Italian patients with BC and CRC by stage and age. A total of 31 Italian Cancer Registries (47% of the population) data until 2017 were included.

The risk-based breast screening (RIBBS) study protocol: a personalized screening model for young women.

The optimal mammography screening strategy for women aged 45-49 years is a matter of debate. We present the RIBBS study protocol, a quasi-experimental, prospective, population-based study comparing a risk- and breast density-stratified screening model (interventional cohort) with annual digital mammography (DM) screening (observational control cohort) in a real-world setting. The interventional cohort consists of 10,269 women aged 45 years enrolled between 2020 and 2021 from two provinces of the Veneto Region (northen Italy).

How many Italian cancer patients are eligible for, and may respond to, Italian Medicines Agency-approved immune checkpoint inhibitors?

Introduction: This cross-sectional study was aimed at estimating the number of Italian incident cancer patients in 2020 eligible for, and respondent to, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

Methods: The study is based on publicly available data: the ICI approved until August 2022 by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) with their specific indications and overall observed responses, rther details can be found in the Online Supplementary Materi cancer incidence estimates at 2020 and observed cancer deaths, and published papers with estimates on the frequency of different cancer stage/histology/markers etc. corresponding to AIFA authorizations.

Applying competing risks analysis to recurrences of primary breast cancer.

Introduction: in time-to-event analysis, competing risks are observed when a subject is at risk of multiple types of events. A competing risk is an event that prevents the event of interest from happening or modifies its chance to occur.

Objectives: the purposes of this article are to provide an overview of competing risks analysis and to illustrate its application to the follow-up of breast cancer patients in order to estimate the risk of disease recurrence.

The descriptive epidemiology of melanoma in Italy has changed - for the better.

A recent research project using data from a total of 40 cancer registries has provided new epidemiologic insights into the results of efforts for melanoma control in Italy between the 1990s and the last decade. In this article, the authors present a summary and a commentary of their findings. Incidence increased significantly throughout the study period in both sexes.

Presence and Role of Associations of Cancer Patients and Volunteers in Specialist Breast Centres: An Italian National Survey of Breast Centres Associated with Senonetwork.

This article aims to present the results of a national, cross-sectional, voluntary, online survey on the presence and roles of associations of breast cancer patients and volunteers in Italian specialist breast centres. The survey was developed according to standard methods. The questionnaire was pre-tested by a random sample of three breast centres, loaded onto the SurveyMonkey platform, and piloted by one volunteer breast centre.

Epidemiologic transition of lung cancer mortality in Italy by sex, province of residence and birth cohort (1920-1929 to 1960-1969).

Space-time analysis of mortality risk is useful to evaluate the epidemiologic transitions at the subnational level. In our study, we analysed the death certificate records for lung cancer in Italy in 1995-2016, obtained from the Italian National Institute of Statistics. Our objective was to investigate the spatial-temporal evolution of lung cancer mortality by sex and province of residence (n = 107) using the birth cohort as relevant time axis.

[Extending the target age of mammography screening or the scope of senology?].

In Italy, the extension of the age range eligible for mammography screening to 45-74 years was accepted by national guidelines in 2006, much earlier than elsewhere in Europe. The ultimate rationale was to increase the modest proportion of screen-detected cancers out of total incident breast cancers in the general female population. This comment aims to emphasize that extending the reach of the mammography age boundaries to include younger and older women is not the only way to enlarge the protection of screening upon the female population.

De-Implementation of Axillary Staging and Radiotherapy in Low-Risk Breast Cancer Patients Aged 70-79 Years from Six Italian Cancer Institutes.

In women aged ≥70 with low-risk breast cancer (BrC), some major international guidelines recommend against sentinel lymph node biopsy (for example, those from the Society of Surgical Oncology, U.S.) and post-lumpectomy radiotherapy (for example, those from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, U.

Female breast cancer subtypes in the Romagna Unit of the Emilia-Romagna cancer registry, and estimated incident cases by subtypes and age in Italy in 2020.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to estimate the Italian burden of incident breast cancer (BC) by subtypes, according to the distribution of hormonal receptor (HR) status and expression of human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2).

Methods: Female breast cancers incidence in the Romagna Unit of the Emilia-Romagna registry (n. 10,711) were grouped into: HR+ /HER2-, HR+ /HER2+ , HR-/HER2+ , HR-/HER2- and missing, and by age: < 50, 50-69 and 70+ years.

Trends in Liver Cancer Incidence and Survival in Italy by Histologic Type, 2003-2017.

(1) Background: Liver cancer in Italy is characterised by one of the highest incidence rates worldwide outside of Asia coupled with comparatively favourable survival figures. The objective of this study was to evaluate the most recent epidemiologic trends of the disease. (2) Methods: Thirteen cancer registries covering a population of about 12,740,000 (21% of the national population) made available the records of 35,574 cases registered between 2003 and 2017.