Insieme di Insiemi: the new Italian campaign to inform and support women with ovarian cancer

This is why it is important to communicate to the entire population how primary prevention, which is based on the adoption of correct lifestyles, can be a game changer.

Other risk conditions are linked to ovarian activity: infertility, no pregnancy or a first pregnancy over the age of 35 may increase the likelihood of developing this cancer. It is also important to investigate the family history: several relatives who have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer or cancer of the colon, endometrium or breast may be a warning sign.

If the symptoms are persistent, i.e. they last for more than two to three weeks, it is important to carry out a gynaecological examination: through palpation and ultrasound and subsequent further investigations, a diagnosis can be made''

'Today, in Italia, there are an estimated 5400 new diagnoses every year, but, although ovarian cancer remains a dangerous neoplasm, from 2021 to date we have seen a reduction in the mortality rate,' adds Giusy Scandurra, Director of the UOC Medical Oncology Unit of the Cannizzaro Hospital, Catania, and lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of the Kore University in Enna. 'The reason for this is to be found in the increasingly innovative treatments and the introduction of first-line maintenance therapies, with different targeted drugs.

However, in both the early and more advanced stages of the disease, surgery is curative in 70% of cases, especially when combined with adjuvant chemotherapy treatment to reduce the risk of recurrence, which occurs in 25-30% of women.

This is information that it is important to convey to patients, who may find themselves in difficulty after a diagnosis, without support in making decisions or at the mercy of the consequences of surgery and drug therapies.

This tumour can also occur in women in their 40s, thus in the prime of life, sometimes with an unfulfilled desire for motherhood, and thus strongly affect psychological health and quality of life.

This campaign aims precisely to stimulate conversation and bring women closer to the topic, to offer them information but also opportunities to share and support."

The Insieme di insiemi project includes numerous activities: the creation of an information webpage (insiemedinsiemi.it), the dissemination of a brochure with all the information on ovarian cancer, engaging social activities, the realisation of a survey and two webinars.

Furthermore, on 8 May, World Ovarian Cancer Day, an institutional conference will be organised at the Senate of the Republic, where representatives of institutions, presidents of associations and scientific societies, and patients will sit at the same table to sign a political commitment document.

Afterwards, in Piazza del Popolo, where on the occasion of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia the great Tennis&Friends Salute e Sport event will be organised in collaboration with Aiom (Italian Association of Medical Oncology),

Salute Lazio Asl Rm1 and Policlinico A. Gemelli, two events will take place: a symbolic flash mob to remember the diagnoses that every day, in Italia, come to change the lives of 15 women, and the land art installation Labia, mothers of love, dedicated to the theme of motherhood beyond biology, to support women who, due to ovarian cancer, cannot carry a pregnancy but are interested in fostering and adoption.

"On ovarian cancer, no voice alone is strong enough: networking means transforming different experiences into a clearer and more useful common request for women,' says Ilaria Bellet, President of ACTO Italia. The national research 'Let's change course', promoted by ACTO Italia, shows that only 27% of patients choose the centre on the basis of their specialisation in gynaecological oncology: out of approximately 5,400 new diagnoses a year, only 1,500 women consciously reach a highly specialised centre, while almost 4,000 still risk starting their journey in the wrong place."

"Insieme di Insiemi was created to unite voices, experiences, and needs that we collect every day from women and their families in whom an alteration of the BRCA 1 and 2 genes is present," says Ornella Campanella, President of aBRCAdabra. "We need clear, timely, and homogeneous paths in all regions

"We believe that an active collaboration between institutions, associations and clinical facilities, also at national level, can improve the treatment pathway of patients - adds Sandra Balboni, President of LOTO OdV -. This is demonstrated, for example, by the work started in 2019 by Loto OdV with the Emilia-Romagna Region, through the PDTA of ovarian cancer and the campaign Women, make yourself uncomfortable, which today makes it possible to treat around 85% of cases within the network of reference centres".

"Research offers more and more concrete prospects, but innovation must become a right for all," says Teresa Cafasso, President of ALTo - Lotta al Tumore Ovarico. "We are very pleased to be able to host, on the occasion of this great event, the activities dedicated to World Ovarian Cancer Day," concludes Prof. Giorgio Meneschincheri, creator and President of Tennis & Friends and specialist doctor in Preventive Medicine at the Policlinico Gemelli -.

In the field of health, we strongly believe that it is teamwork that wins, and holding these events together with clinicians and patient associations means strengthening our commitment to our common goal, through prevention, early diagnosis and access to innovation."