The report, organized by the non-profit medical association Loto ODV and published Sunday on the specialized website Microbiology Italy, on the occasion of the World Ovarian Cancer Day to be held coming May 8, referred to existing difficulties in Italy for early diagnosis and effective treatment.

“We still see a high mortality rate in this form of female cancer,” she says Prof. Rossana Berardi, president of the Scientific Committee of Loto and Member of the National Board of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) -. The reason is to be found above all in the symptoms that are generic and non-specific and are often confused with those of other, much less serious diseases. Early diagnosis is in no way favored and treatments are thus more difficult and also less effective. Also unlike breast cancer or cervical cancer screening programs are not possible. The only form of prevention is linked to the alterations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes which constitute an important risk factor”.

“However, it is critical to make people more aware of the significance of prevention and early diagnosis in order to improve treatment and the survival of ovarian cancer patients,” said the specialist.

AIOM National Chairman Saverio Cinieri, on the other hand, explained that “ovarian neoplasia presents a high biological heterogeneity and it is estimated that there are over 30 different types, which complicates the management of the disease and its scientific research”.

The difficulty in the management of ovarian cancer lies -above all- in the lack of specific symptoms, which are often confused with those of other less serious diseases, and unlike other female pathologies, such as breast or cervical cancer, there are no specific screening programs for it, the source pointed out.

pll/mem/ort