Peschiera del Garda (VR), 21 August 2024 – Another prestigious milestone has been achieved by thePederzoli Hospital in Peschiera del Garda (Verona)officially recognized, on the basis of the fifth national survey by Agenas, as Regional reference center for lung cancer treatment in Veneto.
Playing a central role in all of this is the Lung Unit, led by Dr. Antonio Santo: a new departmental model of the Pederzoli Hospital for the diagnosis and treatment of thoraco-pulmonary neoplasms. This department includes a ‘core team’ consisting of the operating units of pneumology, thoracic surgery and thoracic oncology, functionally connected with the operating units of pathological anatomy, radiology, analysis laboratory, pharmacy, anesthesia-resuscitation, pain therapy and respiratory physiopathology.
The patient with suspected thoraco-pulmonary neoplasia is rapidly assessed by expert specialist oncologists and pulmonologists who work in a team and, from the first visit, there is a global patient care with a careful organization of his diagnostic-therapeutic path through the figure of the ‘case manager’.
The numbers are significant: the new patients taken in charge by the Lung Unit of the Pederzoli Hospital in 2023 were over 360, with a growing trend in 2024.
Specifically, an average of 27 patients use the care and treatment services of the Pederzoli Hospital’s Lung Unit every day, of which a third undergo follow-up visits and two thirds undergo chemo-immunotherapy or targeted biological therapies (target therapy).
These new therapeutic methods are significantly improving survival even in a good portion of those patients with advanced or metastatic disease who, until a few years ago, had an inexorably unfavourable prognosis within a few months..
Furthermore, these new therapies, characterized by greater efficacy against tumors and fewer side effects, in addition to increasing the chances of long-term survival, also significantly improve the quality of life of patients.
In summary, This type of organization aims to ensure rapid and targeted diagnosticswith all requests for ‘first visit or second opinion’ that are processed on average within 5 working days; complete patient care with opening of the Amid file and rapid execution of the diagnostic-staging phase under strict monitoring by the case manager; optimal latest-generation treatments, the most suitable for the clinical case in question, through the adoption of guidelines validated by the technical-scientific committee of the Lung Unit, which uses the most recent data in the literature; complete patient care also with regard to post-therapy monitoring, with the organization of all the tests necessary for regular follow-up.
Many patients come from beyond the borders of Veneto, approximately 30%.
“It is essential that people with suspected or confirmed lung cancer turn to reference centers with proven expertise, even if they are not close to home, because this can make the difference in obtaining the best results in terms of survival or even recovery in some cases,” This is the appeal of Dr. Antonio Santo, one of the architects, together with Professor Francesco Schittulli, of the alliance between Fonicap (National Interdisciplinary Operational Force Against Lung Cancer) and Lilt (Italian League for the Fight against Tumors) for the strengthening of primary prevention mechanisms (fight against smoking) and secondary prevention mechanisms (early diagnosis and care at Reference Centers). A project presented in recent weeks in Rome, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health, with a view to starting a legislative process that will lead to the institutionalization of the Lung Units which today, at the Pederzoli Hospital, has already become a reality.