Cancer Registry

Cancer Registry is an Operative Unit whose primary purpose is to measure, assess, codify and archive information related to the patients who have a cancer diagnosis and reside in the Provinces of Ragusa and Caltanissetta. The systematic collection of personal and disease data has the aim of producing the following epidemiological data:

• Incidence, that is the people who develop cancer every year;
• Prevalence, that is the people who live with cancer (the patients who are taken care of);
• Time trends, that is the increase or the reduction of cancer cases, compared to the previous years;
• Survival, that is the chance of being alive after one, three, five or ten years from the diagnosis;
• Regional, national and international comparisons, that is the difference, as for the impact of the disease, between neighboring areas, in Italy and in the world, and between Provinces.

The Cancer Registry of A.S.P. Ragusa Department of Prevention has been established on the 27th May 1981 in the Cancer Prevention Center by Resolution No. 1369 of the Management Board of the Body “Ospedali Riuniti Civile - G.B.Odierna - M.P.Arezzo” of Ragusa. It has been recognized by D.A. by the Sicily Region in 1984. It was accredited in 1987 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of World Health Organization (IARC-WHO, Lyon); it has been a member of ENCR - The European Network of Cancer Registries, since its establishment (1997). In compliance with Regional Law 5/2009, the registration of cancers for the Province of Caltanissetta has also been assigned to it.

In compliance with Sicily Region D.A. of 24/6/1998 and No. 2167/2003, the Cancer Registry of A.S.P. Ragusa is the Operational Center for the Registration of Mesotheliomas in the Sicily Region; moreover it belongs to the Mesotheliomas National Register, a dangerous disease which is associated to the exposure to asbestos fibers.

The data of the Cancer Register of A.S.P. are periodically published on the monographies Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, published by IARC – Lyon, on "Epidemiologia & prevenzione" and "I numeri del Cancro in Italia". Since June 2012, the data are also centralized in the Regional Epidemiological Observatory, in compliance with Regional Law 5/2009, and published in the Atlante Sanitario Regionale. The Register has also performed research in collaboration with national and international research institutions:

• The EPIC (European Prospective Investigation Into cancer and Nutrition) project, a cohort study on nutrition and cancer that involved 6400 healthy individuals in the province of Ragusa and produced more than 600 articles on international scientific journals;
• National and international multi-center studies of Analytic and descriptive epidemiology, as EUROCARE and CONCORD (survival analysis in Italy, Europe and in the world), with a specific in-depth analysis for breast, prostate and colorectal cancers, Non-Hodgkin lymphomas and melanomas;
• A study on the family aggregations of the pancreatic cancers which are related to a possible hereditary and family basis has been performed, in collaboration with the Department of Internal Medicine, Modena and Reggio Emilia University;
• With respect to the activity of Mesotheliomas registration, the Cancer Registry is performing a research project on the characterization of the Mesotheliomas occured in the S.I.N. areas of Sicily (Sites of National Interest for decontamination): Gela, Priolo, Milazzo e Biancavilla. Moreover, it contributed to the publication of the study named SENTIERI (Studio Epidemiologico Nazionale dei Territori e degli Insediamenti Esposti a Rischio da Inquinamento: valutazione della evidenza epidemiologica – National Epidemiological Study of the Territories and the environments exposed to pollution risk: assessment of the epidemiological evidence), by the Environment and Related Primary Prevention Department - Italian National Institute of Health (ISS).

The Cancer Registry is financed by the Sicily Region. As for the research activities, it has been financed by:

• European Commission;
• Italian National Institute of Health (ISS);
• Center for disease control (CCM);
• National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (former ISPESL);
• AIRC;
• Compagnia San Paolo;
• LILT;
• PSN funds 2012 and 2013.

The registration of cancers in the province of Caltanissetta, for the 2007-2009 period, has been financed by the Social Services Department of the Regional Province of Caltanissetta (Project “Knowledge is cure, knowledge is prevention, cancers registration and beneficial lifestyles in the Province of Caltanissetta” - “Conoscere per curare conoscere per prevenire, registrazione dei tumori e stili di vita positivi in provincia di Caltanissetta”). The Cancer Registry operates under the auspices of AIRE-ONLUS (Ragusa Association for Epidemiological Research - Associazione Iblea per la Ricerca Epidemiologica).

Personnel of the Cancer Registry of A.S.P. Ragusa

Permanent personnel:

• Dr. Giuseppe Cascone;
• Dr. Vincenzo Fronte;
• Dr. Eugenia Spata;
• Dr. Concetta Patrizia Rollo;
• Dr. Antonella Usticano;
• Mr. Gabriele Morana;
• Ms. Giovanna Spata;
• Ms. Stefania Vacirca.

Fixed-term personnel:

• Dr. Antonella Ippolito