Petruzzelli (Favo), ‘vaccination part of cancer treatment’

2023-06-28 17:01:52

“Vaccines must be seen today as an integral part of the cure and, if they are an integral part of the cure, they must become an integral part of the system. And if they are to become an integral part of the system they must be, in the case of oncology, probably together with the Oncological Networks. I stress, however, that it is also important to outline operational paths: patients tell us that they prefer to be vaccinated at the facility that treats them and that is the bet we have to win because, if vaccination is part of the treatment path , that’s probably where we should do it.” Thus Davide Petruzzelli, councilor of the Federation of voluntary associations in oncology (Favo) and president of Aladdin’s lamp Ets, today in Rome on the sidelines of the conference ‘Frames – Focusing on Herpes zoster. New prevention perspectives in cancer patients’, promoted by Gsk.

“We, as an association – adds Petruzzelli – are bearers of what I always define as ‘secular science’, therefore those who have gone through the problem today are here to tell it and try to give their contribution. It is something important and crucial, because through the experience of those who have been there and faced it we can offer help in designing paths that are not only recommendations, but are also operational paths, in practice, on how to actually go and get vaccinated” .

In terms of protection from Herpes zoster for cancer patients, “I’m talking about quality of life and therefore – asks Petruzzelli – why not prevent what is preventable through a vaccine that has an excellent safety profile, very little toxicity and which allows us to avoid one of the many problems that arise during the oncological process? Today – remember – we have many vaccines to help patients maintain the quality of life and we must work on this. We need to be informed, aware, have paths – both organizational and recommendations – and in the end all this wealth of information must be told in an understandable way for people. We who do communication must also believe in it – he concludes – because it becomes a determining part for the success of this operation”.