Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy (Apr 2022)

Breast Cancer in Italy: Stage and Region Distribution

  • Mangone L,
  • Bisceglia I,
  • Michiara M,
  • Musolino A,
  • Mazzoleni G,
  • Caldarella A,
  • Minerba S,
  • Cascone G,
  • Bella F,
  • Dinaro Y,
  • Pau L,
  • Pinto C

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 14
pp. 125 – 131

Abstract

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Lucia Mangone,1 Isabella Bisceglia,1 Maria Michiara,2 Antonino Musolino,2 Guido Mazzoleni,3 Adele Caldarella,4 Sante Minerba,5 Giuseppe Cascone,6 Francesca Bella,7 Ylenia Dinaro,7 Loredana Pau,8 Carmine Pinto9 1Epidemiology Unit, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale–IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy; 2Medical Oncology and Breast Unit, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy; 3Pathology Service South Tyrol Local Health Authority, Bolzano, 39100, Italy; 4Tuscany Cancer Registry, Clinical and Descriptive Epidemiology Unit, Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network (ISPRO), Florence, Italy; 5Local Health Service Taranto, Taranto, Italy; 6Cancer Registry, Provincial Health Department, Ragusa, Italy; 7Siracusa Cancer Registry, Azienda Sanitaria Provinciale Di Siracusa, Siracusa, Italy; 8Europa Donna, Italia, Milan, Italy; 9Medical Oncology Unit, Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale -IRCCS Di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, ItalyCorrespondence: Isabella Bisceglia, Via Giovanni Amendola 2, Tel +39 0522/35075, Email [email protected]: Describe breast cancer in Italy by age, geographical area, stage and sites of metastases. In addition, incident and prevalent cases by region are provided.Patients and Methods: This population-based study included all female patients with histologically confirmed breast cancer diagnosed in Italy between 2013 and 2019 in the eight participating Cancer Registries. Cases were described by geographic area (north, center, south), age group (< 50, 50– 69 and 70+) and site of metastases. In addition, the study also provided an estimate of the cases of metastatic breast cancer per single region.Results: Of the total 5731 cases, the number of unknown stage cases (eliminated from our analyses) was 545 (10.5% of cases); therefore, the study was conducted on 5186 cases. Overall, 333 (6.5%) of tumors were metastatic at diagnosis but the distribution by geographical area was different: 5.1% in the north, 7.4% in the center and 7.8% in the south. Related to age, 5.6% were diagnosed before the age of 50 and 5.6% within the screening target group (50– 69 years), while in elderly women the percentage rose to 8.1%. As regards the site of the metastases, 27.1% developed metastasis to the bone, 12.4% to the liver, 8.6% to the lung and 2.6% to the brain; in 34.9%, multiple sites were already present at the beginning of the cancer. Overall, 3520 cases of incident mBC are estimated in Italia every year (520 in Lombardy in northern Italy, 350 in Lazio in the center, followed by 330 in Campania in the south), and finally they are out of 52,000 prevalent cases.Conclusion: A greater possibility of treating and living with the disease for a long time now requires careful monitoring of these tumors.Keywords: breast cancer, metastatic, incidence, Italy

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