Let’s start with the numbers. In 2022 they were estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths. New cases are expected to exceed 35 million in 2050, a 77% increase from 2022. The rapid increase in the global cancer burden reflects both theaging of the populationboth the changes inexposure of people to risk factorsmany of which are associated with socioeconomic development.
In this sense theair pollution appears as a primary environmental risk factor, which we often do not consider sufficiently. The problem is that the trends say how much the surge in cancer numbers will lead to increase in public costs which weigh on families’ social spending, reinforcing social and territorial disparities and also weighing on healthcare systems.
In short, there is a risk of creating a vicious circle in which one’s own the environment plays an important role, as was recalled by the experts present at the conference organized by the Italian Association against Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma (AIL) entitled: “To cure is to take care. Environmental impact and health risk, well-being and lifestyleto”.
AIL’s commitment
AIL for 55 years promotes and supports scientific research for the treatment of leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma; assists patients and families by accompanying them in all phases of the journey through the disease with services suited to their needs; aims to improve the quality of life of patients and to raise public awareness of the fight against blood diseases.
The Italian Association against Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma was established on 8 April 1969 in Rome and today is a strong and deep-rooted reality, present throughout the national territory. The AIL carries out activities in favor of haematological patients in collaboration with public structures, both universities and hospitals; it is based on the autonomy of the individual provincial offices and on the principle that the funds are spent, in the most transparent way, where they are collected and for the objectives that are proposed from time to time. All of this, with a series of initiatives ranging from the scientific front to assistance and support for patients and families, thanks to its 83 provincial sections and its over 17,000 volunteers.
The environmental impact and the appearance of tumors
Reading what the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, “approximately 22% of global diseases are due to exposure to modifiable environmental factors; this percentage rises between 23 and 26% in children”, it is certainly necessary to reflect. And above all we need to think about the second part of what has been reported. That is, remembering that “most of these risks, however, could be avoided through the reduction of environmental risk”.
In this sense pollution represents a now established risk for human health, especially in the presence of high concentrations of pollutants even for short periods or exposure to low concentrations for long periods of time. Various types of pollution, such as air, soil and water, can contribute toonset of hematological problems.
In this sense it should be remembered what was presented by Ruggero Ridolfi, Endocrinologist Oncologist, ISDE Forlì-Cesena, ARRT Cesena who took stock of the way in which environmental pollution contributes to the increase in tumor incidencea phenomenon that is growing especially among young people. In our country, in fact, the risk of incidence has doubled in just 15 years at a greater speed than in previous generations: the number of 15-39 year olds with cancer has doubled in 24 years, from around 10,000 in 1995 to around 20,000 in 2019 Not only that: attention was drawn to the normalization of tumor incidence in pediatric populationinvestigating the need to identify the causes so as not to make people, especially children and young people, get cancer.
The role of habits and climate
At the conference, we talked about PFAS and exposure to these substances, which over time is associated with a series of negative health effects, including thyroid problems, diabetes, liver damage, immune system damage, kidney and testicular cancer, and also causes negative impacts on fertility.
But what matters above all is what we do. Everyday. Alessandro Maria Vannucchi, Director of SOD Hematology CRIMM, AOU Careggi University of Florence, highlighted how behavioral factorssuch as cigarette smoking, increase the risk of clinical manifestations, in particular thrombosis, hypertension and dyslipidaemia.
But it’s not enough. We need to remember how air pollution and climate change can “travel together. This was reported by Paola Michelozzi, Director of the UOC Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology and Cancer Registry of SSR Lazio – ASL Roma 1, recalling that it is a phenomenon which, through climate variation, also impacts human health in an increasingly intense and frequent way; the effects include electrical heat wavesWeakening the body’s immune defenses. Finally, it should not be underestimated how much and how the evidence and the scientific community today agree on danger of electromagnetic fields and on the fact that this harmfulness can be linked to childhood leukemia, breast cancer, glioma and acoustic neuroma, in a path that also develops in light of the increase in exposure to electromagnetic technologies.
Finally Aurelio Angelini, environmental sociologist, director of the scientific magazine Cultures of Sustainability, focused on theimpact of polluting sources on healthproposing an analysis of the main factors that contribute to the deterioration of health up to the onset of cancer; among these factors it is worth mentioning air pollution, the cause of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, tumors and cognitive decline, and pesticides, substances that are toxic to health.
