Publications by authors named "Silvia Francisci"

Objectives: Concurrence of pregnancy and cancer diagnosis is increasingly frequent in Italy. The study aimed to compare women with pregnancy-associated cancers (PACs) to those of childbearing age, focusing on fertility, induced abortion, and miscarriage.

Methods: The population-based study included women aged 15-49 years, both with and without PAC, who were residents in the area covered by the 19 participating Cancer Registries between 2003 and 2015 and identified by individual deterministic linkage with the Hospital Discharge Database.

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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).

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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.

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Background: In most developed countries, the number of cancer survivors is expected to increase in the coming decades because of rising incidence and survival rates and an aging population. These patients are heterogeneous in terms of health service demands: from recently diagnosed patients requiring first-course therapy to patients with extensive care needs and severe disabilities to long-term survivors who only need minimal care. Therefore, in terms of providing healthcare planners and policymakers with useful indicators for addressing policies according to health service demands, it is worth supplying updated measures of prevalence for groups of patients based on the level of care they require.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the prevalence and trends of pregnancy-associated cancer (PAC) in Italy, highlighting the growing concern as more women delay childbirth.
  • - Utilizing data from 19 cancer registries covering 22% of the population, the research analyzed over 2.8 million pregnancies, identifying 3,559 cases of PAC with breast, thyroid, and melanoma cancers being the most common types.
  • - Findings indicate a rising trend of PAC from 2003 to 2015, with 53.1% of cases resulting in delivery, emphasizing a shift in clinical practices for managing cancer during pregnancy, providing crucial insights for healthcare providers.
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Objectives: To describe the procedures to derive complete prevalence and several indicators of cancer cure from population-based cancer registries.

Materials And Methods: Cancer registry data (47% of the Italian population) were used to calculate limited duration prevalence for 62 cancer types by sex and registry. The incidence and survival models, needed to calculate the completeness index () and complete prevalence, were evaluated by likelihood ratio tests and by visual comparison.

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Sustainability of cancer burden is becoming increasingly central in the policy makers' debate, and poses a challenge for the welfare systems, due to trends towards greater intensity of healthcare service use, which imply increasing costs of cancer care. Measuring and projecting the economic burden associated with cancer and identifying effective policies for minimising its impact are important issues for healthcare systems. Scope of this paper is to illustrate a novel comprehensive approach (called Epicost) to the estimation of the economic burden of cancer, based on micro-data collected from multiple data sources.

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The incidence of thyroid disease is generally increasing, and it is subject to major geographic variability, between and within countries. Moreover, the incidence rates and the proportion of overdiagnosis for thyroid cancer in Italy are among the highest worldwide. This study aimed to estimate population-based frequency and trends of thyroidectomies in Italy by type of surgical procedure (total/partial), indication (tumors/other conditions), sex, age, and geographical region.

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Objectives: To identify and provide lists of procedures and drugs related to diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. These lists can be used for the estimation of the cost of illness.

Methods: The method consists of identifying lists of procedures/interventions/drugs related to the tumour of interest, drawn by a panel of expert clinicians and oncologists on the basis of clinical guidelines and current practice.

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Costs of cancer care are increasing worldwide, and sustainability of cancer burden is critical. In this study, the economic impact of rectal cancer on the Italian healthcare system, measured as public healthcare expenditure related to investigation and treatment of rectal cancer patients is estimated. A cross-sectional cohort of 9358 rectal cancer patients is linked, on an individual basis, to claims associated to rectal cancer diagnosis and treatments.

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Introduction: Cancer prevalence (people alive on a certain date in a population who previously had a cancer diagnosis) is expected to increase in the United States and Europe due to improvements in survival and population aging. Examination of prevalence by phase of care allows us to identify subgroups of patients according to their care trajectories, thus allowing us to improve health care planning, resource allocation, and calculation of costs.

Methods: A new method to estimate prevalence by phase of care using grouped data is illustrated.

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Background: Few studies have estimated the probability of being cured for cancer patients. This study aims to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure in Europe by type, sex, age and period.

Methods: 7.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to estimate the total direct health care costs for diagnosing and treating breast cancer in Italy, analyzing costs based on service type and patient characteristics.
  • Using population-based Cancer Registries, the research links patient data with health care service claims, employing a model that breaks down care into initial, ongoing, and final phases.
  • Results reveal that of 49,272 patients, most costs arise from hospitalization, particularly with the initial phase consuming 42% of resources, indicating significant economic impact that could help in resource allocation planning.
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Background: Increasing evidence of cure for some neoplasms has emerged in recent years. The study aimed to estimate population-based indicators of cancer cure.

Methods: Information on more than half a million cancer patients aged 15-74 years collected by population-based Italian cancer registries and mixture cure models were used to estimate the life expectancy of fatal tumors (LEFT), proportions of patients with similar death rates of the general population (cure fraction), and time to reach 5-year conditional relative survival (CRS) >90% or 95% (time to cure).

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Objective: To evaluate short-term (2003-2014) cancer incidence and mortality trends in Italy.

Methods: Italian Cancer Registries data, available in the AIRTUM database, from 17 out of 20 regions were used. The number of incident cases and deaths were estimated for those registries and those years with incomplete information.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluated colorectal cancer trends in Italy from 2003 to 2014, analyzing incidence and mortality rates by age groups and regions using data from 48 cancer registries.
  • Findings showed a decline in cancer incidence and mortality rates for both men and women, with a notable decrease among those aged 50-69 following the initiation of screening programs.
  • However, incidence rates rose in southern and island regions, highlighting the need for focused investments in prevention strategies, including lifestyle changes and screening initiatives.
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In the Lysine-acetyltransferase Gcn5 (KAT2) is part of the SAGA complex and is responsible for histone acetylation widely or at specific lysines. In this paper we report that deletion differently affects the growth of two strains. The defective mitochondrial phenotype is related to a marked decrease in mtDNA content, which also involves the deletion of specific regions of the molecule.

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Healthy mitochondria are required in cell metabolism and deregulation of underlying mechanisms is often involved in human diseases and neurological disorders. Post-translational modifications of mitochondrial proteins regulate their function and activity, accordingly, impairment of ubiquitin proteasome system affects mitochondria homeostasis and organelle dynamics. In the present study we have investigated the role of the ubiquitin protease Ubp8 in S.

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Background: Estimates of cancer prevalence are widely based on limited duration, often including patients living after a cancer diagnosis made in the previous 5 years and less frequently on complete prevalence (i.e., including all patients regardless of the time elapsed since diagnosis).

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Cancers diagnosed in children below the age of 15 years represent 1.2% of all cancer cases, and survival after a childhood cancer has greatly improved over the past 40 years in all high income countries. This study aims to estimate the number of people living in Italy after a childhood cancer for all cancers combined and for a selection of cancer types.

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The mitochondrial Elongation Factor Tu (EF-Tu), encoded by the TUFM gene, is a highly conserved GTPase, which is part of the mitochondrial protein translation machinery. In its activated form it delivers the aminoacyl-tRNAs to the A site of the mitochondrial ribosome. We report here on a baby girl with severe infantile macrocystic leukodystrophy with micropolygyria and a combined defect of complexes I and IV in muscle biopsy, caused by a novel mutation identified in TUFM.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers discovered that a specific six-amino-acid sequence in mitochondrial LeuRS can rescue certain yeast mt tRNA mutants, while a mutated mitochondrial EF-Tu identified its suppression region.
  • These findings hint at potential new therapies for mitochondrial diseases by using small peptides to correct tRNA defects, and suggest mitochondrial EF-Tu's role in responding to cellular heat stress.
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