Publications by authors named "Falcini F"

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Five-year survival rates for vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) patients in Italy haven't improved over the past 30 years, which raises concerns about treatment effectiveness.
  • A study of cancer registries found that in 2018, about 6,620 women in Italy were living with VSCC, but only 32% of newly diagnosed patients are considered curable, with many facing high mortality rates even after five years.
  • The results highlight a critical need to revamp the vulvar care approach in Italy to better address the ongoing challenges in managing VSCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The Italian Melanoma Intergroup has launched MelaMEd, an online training program for general practitioners focusing on the prevention and detection of cutaneous melanoma.
  • The project involves a pre-training questionnaire to assess participants’ baseline knowledge, which is compared to their post-training responses after completing the course by December 2023.
  • Preliminary analysis from January to July 2023 reveals that out of 1320 participants, many recognized key melanoma concepts, but knowledge gaps exist, particularly in specific melanoma recognition rules and management accuracy rates for various skin lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The number and projections of cancer survivors are necessary to meet the healthcare needs of patients, while data on cure prevalence, that is, the percentage of patients who will not die of cancer by time since diagnosis, are lacking.

Materials And Methods: Data from Italian cancer registries (duration of registration ranged from 9 to 40 years, with a median of 22 years) covering 47% of the population were used to calculate the limited-duration prevalence, the complete prevalence in 2018, projections to 2030, and cure prevalence, by cancer type, sex, age, and time since diagnosis.

Results: A total of 3 347 809 people were alive in Italy in 2018 after a cancer diagnosis, corresponding to 5.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: The analyses here reported aim to compare the screening performance of digital tomosynthesis (DBT) versus mammography (DM).

Methods: MAITA is a consortium of four Italian trials, REtomo, Proteus, Impeto, and MAITA trial. The trials adopted a two-arm randomised design comparing DBT plus DM (REtomo and Proteus) or synthetic-2D (Impeto and MAITA trial) versus DM; multiple vendors were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Socioeconomic status (SES) impacts on the incidence of many inflammatory diseases and cancers, but there is no evidence on its implication in vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS). The authors aimed to assess possible associations between SES and both occurrence of VLS and cancer occurrence among VLS patients.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective cohort of women resident in the province of Ferrara, Italy, affected with VLS diagnosed between 2001 and 2020, was investigated for assessing any association of SES with VLS and cancer incidence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Subjects with pathogenic (PV) and likely pathogenic (LPV) FLCN variants have an increased risk of manifesting benign and malignant disorders that are related to Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHDS): an autosomal dominantly inherited disorder whose severity can vary significantly. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) development in BHD (Birt-Hogg-Dubé) patients has a very high incidence; thus, identifying this rare syndrome at early stages and preventing metastatic spread is crucial. Over the last decade, the advancement of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and the implementation of multigene panels for hereditary cancer syndromes (HCS) have led to a subsequent focus on additional genes and variants, including those of uncertain significance (VUS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

By combining real-field observations and theoretical predictions, we describe role and relationships among north-propagating internal solitary waves (ISWs) generated by tidal currents in the Messina Strait (Mediterranean Sea), buoyancy deformation, sediment resuspension, and mixing effects. In particular, our results show that the presence of ISWs traveling along the Gioia Basin (north of the Strait) is not strictly related to seasonality. During winter, when the remote observation of ISWs from satellite is particularly rare due to the weak water column stratification, we observe elevation-type ISWs from hydrographic data.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • PVs and LPVs in genes are linked to a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancers, especially in hereditary cases like HBOC; recent studies also connect these variants to pancreatic cancer.
  • Inherited genetic factors account for 10% to 20% of pancreatic cancer cases, with variation in germline alterations among different ethnic groups, particularly in Italian HBOC families.
  • The study focuses on a specific group of HBOC patients from the eastern coast of Emilia Romagna, aiming to determine the prevalence of a particular variant and its implications for cancer risk, which is important for genetic counseling and monitoring.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates survival trends in vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) in Italy from 1990 to 2015, revealing stagnation in survival rates.
  • Analysis of data from 38 cancer registries indicated a decrease in 1-year and 2-year net survival rates, while 5-year conditional survival showed a slight increase but was not statistically significant.
  • The findings suggest that current treatment and control strategies for VSCC need to be re-evaluated in Italy and worldwide due to the lack of improvement in survival outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Five-year data of the phase III trial TAM-01 showed that low-dose tamoxifen at 5 mg once daily administered for 3 years in women with intraepithelial neoplasia (IEN) reduced by 52% the recurrence of invasive breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), without additional adverse events over placebo. Here, we present the 10-year results.

Methods: We randomly assigned 500 women with breast IEN (atypical ductal hyperplasia, lobular carcinoma in situ [LCIS], or hormone-sensitive or unknown DCIS) to low-dose tamoxifen or placebo after surgery with or without irradiation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

(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.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: to update the Italian estimates of survival for patients with a paediatric cancer, tobacco smoke-associated cancers, and cancers targeted by screening; to assess geographical differences.

Design: population-based descriptive study.

Setting And Participants: incident cancer cases diagnosed in 2010-2014, with follow-up to 2018, from 17 Italian cancer registries (covering 31% of the national population; 43% of the population residing in the North-Centre of the country and 8% of the population living in the South and Islands).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The global increase in incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) occurring in the past decades has been partly attributed to increased diagnostic scrutiny of early lesions, with a potential phenomenon of overdiagnosis. The reported positive linear relation between skin biopsy rate and incidence of early CMM is compatible with this hypothesis.

Objectives: We explored the ecological association between the trends in annual dermatologic office visit rates, skin biopsy rates, incidence rates of in situ and invasive CMM by tumour thickness category, and CMM mortality rates in the Emilia-Romagna Region (northern Italy).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

(1) Background: This population-based study aimed at identifying the factors associated with the likelihood of detection of stage IA cervical carcinoma-versus the detection of stage IB through IV cervical carcinoma-and the patterns of surgical treatment. (2) Methods: Between 1995-2016, 3750 patients living in the Emilia-Romagna Region (northern Italy) were registered with cervical carcinoma, including 2942 eligible patients (median age, 53). Multivariate analysis was performed using binary logistic regression models.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We present a review and a new assessment of the Lagrangian dispersion properties of a 2D model of chaotic advection and diffusion in a regular lattice of non stationary kinematic eddies. This model represents an ideal case for which it is possible to analyze the same system from three different perspectives: theory, modelling and experiments. At this regard, we examine absolute and relative Lagrangian dispersion for a kinematic flow, a hydrodynamic model (Delft3D), and a laboratory experiment, in terms of established dynamical system techniques, such as the measure of (Lagrangian) finite-scale Lyapunov exponents (FSLE).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF