Rare Tumors, the Shocking Percentage of Diagnoses: Here's What's Happening

Loneliness, late diagnosis and lack of access to specific therapies: these are the conditions faced by over 4.3 million people diagnosed with rare tumors, which today represent 22% of new cancer diagnoses in Europe. This is "a real paradox" according to Marco Krengli, president of the Italian Association of Radiotherapy and Clinical Oncology (Airo), who spoke on the occasion of the month of February dedicated to rare diseases.

"Although each individual rare cancer affects relatively few individuals," Krengli said, "overall, they represent a major category of new cancer diagnoses." He noted that patients face "unique obstacles , including difficulty in timely diagnosis, limited treatment options, and less access to clinical trials," where "radiation therapy plays a critical role."

Michele Fiore, member of the Airo Board of Directors, confirmed this, according to whom radiotherapy is "the only hope for a cure" when surgery is not possible, "and there are few specific drugs". Furthermore, to guarantee access to every patient, it is essential to "invest in research and multidisciplinary collaboration", added Fiore, recalling the European Rarecare project, which "has identified about 200 different types of rare tumors, unknown to most". Difficult situations in which one often has to deal with "uncertain diagnoses, long journeys to find specialized centers and fragmented treatment paths". According to the elected Airo president, Stefano Pergolizzi, radiotherapy "can really make a difference", but "more research and increasingly stronger integration between specialists are needed. May Rare Disease Month be an opportunity to forcefully reiterate that no patient should be left behind".