BOLZANO. What unites Gianluca Vialli, Paola Marella, Sven Göran Eriksson, Fedez and – before them – Steve Jobs, Luciano Pavarotti, Mariangela Melato? Unfortunately, one of the big killers of our era: pancreatic cancer.
Cancer is destined to become the second cause of oncological death in the world in the coming years. Antonio Frenaprimary of General surgery at San Mauriziosays that at the 44th National Congress of the Italian Society of Oncological Surgery, held in recent days in Messina, the focus was on the multimodal treatment of pancreatic cancer.
«The General Surgery of Bolzano was present with a study on pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to the liver. Unfortunately, this cancer is on the rise due to unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking and caffeine abuse. It is also true that improvements there have been some, either on the diagnostic side (improvement of equipment), both above all on the genetic side which now allows us to characterize some individuals at risk (BRCA positive, for example), and to personalize chemotherapy treatments based on the patient’s genetic profile. Surgery alone is not enough and the treatment is now multi-specialist, personalized and “sewn” like a dress on the patient.”
Bolzano can now be said to be on par with the best oncological realities in this field, both for the quality of care and for the foresight of the 2014 provincial law on oncology certification which allowed the treatment of hepato-biliary-pancreatic oncological pathology to be concentrated in Bolzano. «This choice has increased the experience of the Center, giving it authority and bearing the best fruits in terms of therapeutic progress and reduction of the risks linked to these “difficult” diseases. Once upon a time, for example, it was impossible to talk about surgical therapy for metastasized pancreatic cancer, but instead some glimmers of hope are opening up in this delicate sector too. And we are working on it. Of course, the road is still long, but scientific work produces, little step after little step, a lot more hope than it used to.”
We remember that thepancreas surgery clinic has been active in Bolzano since September 2019. It is a specialist surgical service that specifically deals with patients suffering from pancreatic diseases – in the oncology and non-oncology field – and who have surgery among their therapeutic prospects. Historically, since the 1980s, this area of general surgery has always been one of the points of excellence of the Bolzano hospital’s offering.
2024-10-02 15:17:02