2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Activities

2021 Activities

January 25: MTCC endorses the Mediterranean Interventional Oncology (Mio–live ) meeting organized by our Member Prof Roberto Iezzi. The Catholic University, Rome

February 4 : On Cancer Day, our Member Maisam Akroush gives a Seminar on “Gastro-Intestinal Cancer” at the Patient’s Friends Society Jerusalem chaired by our Member Carol El-Jabari

February 25: on the 99th anniversary of the foundation of the Italian League for the Fight Against Cancer( LILT (www.LILT.it) LILT, distributes  350 thousand copies of the MTCC primary and secondary prevention leaflets in the Country

February: MTCC signs a Memorandum of Agreement with the International Papilloma Virus Society (IPVS)

March: MTCC is Collaborating Partner to the HPV Day jointly with the IPVS, the “Regina Elena” National Cancer Inst. Rome (HPV Unit chaired by our Member Prof Aldo Venuti), and LILT (Rome Chapter)  by releasing awareness videos and informations leaflets for the adult and youngster population

April Upon request of our Member Prof. Sami Khatib, MTCC contributes to the organization of the 20th Pan Arab Cancer Congress by engaging 5 speakers, including MTCC Members

June: MTCC  signes a collaboration agreement with LILT Rome Chapter for the development of public awareness messages

Sept. 12-14 MTCC is chairing a session at the
XI PROBIOTICS, PREBIOTICS NEW FOODS, NUTRACEUTICALS, AND BOTANICALS for NUTRITION & HUMAN and MICROBIOTA HEALTH, Rome.
Organizer Prof Lucio Capurso, MTCC Member. Three MTCC Members (Natali, Saggioro, Ascione) contributed to the section dedicated to our beloved Members,  Massimo Crespi and Alberto Montori. Our Member   N. Lahbabi-AmraniPresident WGO (World Gastroenterology Organization) contributes to the opening ceremony with a presentation titled “WGO activities and its involvement in nutrition”

Sept, 25. As MTCC Secretary-General Dr. Natali is lecturing at the 2021 Congress of the European Society for Translational Medicine (EUSTM). The Role of General Practitioners in Cancer Control. An underexploited resource in translational oncology. Upon request, the PowerPoint presentation can be provided

October, Our member Maisam Akroush and Ziad Sharahia contributes to the Jordan Breast Cancer Awareness day

November 25: Through the kind advice of Dr. Murat Gultekin, the Secretary-General gives a speech at The Bulgarian National Cancer Control Plan organized by the Bulgarian Natl Assembly of Health Care: “Mission Possible”: Abstract:

The Role of Family Doctors in Cancer Control. An underexploited resource to be urgently reprogrammed.  Pier Giorgio Natali MD, Ph.D. Mediterranean Taskforce for Cancer Control (MTCC),

Introduction: Because of increasing life expectancy, cancer represents a global emergency that can be tackled only by policies aimed at ensuring to the largest population a continuum of primary prevention interventions, access to early diagnosis, and therapies.

Description: A large fraction of cancers are already avoidable by primary prevention, the remaining averted by early diagnosis, thus limiting the occurrence of advanced disease “the key challenge in cancer treatment”.

Results: The presence of Family Doctors (FDs) on the territory has steadily declined in many public-private and mixed health systems due to policies that have moved health care from the territory to the hospital. This is in contrast to long-standing recognition of the link between life expectancy and the density of FDs. The limits of this “hospital-focussed” architecture are now dramatically underscored by the occurring Covid-19 pandemic. Collectively, this organizational drift requires interventions that cannot be further postponed in terms of reprogramming the “territorial oncology”. Thus any political inertia not fully exploiting the available knowledge to reduce the incidence of advanced diseases is unjustified from medical, ethical, and social points of view and is necessarily fostering an increase in unsustainable costs even for wealthy societies. In this context, FDs can play a major role in cancer control because a) can provide reliable censored information,  thus contributing to increase health literacy and advocacy b) know the patient’s history, and living- and occupational environment, thus being able to perceive symptoms that patient may underestimate c) can enforce preventive and diagnostic procedures tailored to patient’s co-morbidities d) cure chronic diseases often heralding tumor onset e) ensure referring specialists according to criteria of priority and congruity.

Take home message: FDs have an important and expanding role in cancer control that often goes beyond screening and diagnosis to treatment, survivorship, and palliative care. On the whole, family medicine is a privileged reference for health policymakers being the source of information on the feasibility, effectiveness, and economic sustainability of the adopted policies also given the increasing disparities.

November 24-26: Dr. Maisan Akroush organizes Amman the Jordan Women Doctor Conference; excellence, distinction, and Leadership

Jowomenconference@gmail.com

November: MTCC and The Italian League Against Cancer, Rome Chapter (LILT-Rome) post on the LILT Rome website the guidelines for Cancer Prevention for the LGBT+ Communities

2022 Activities

February 4 Cancer Day. Rome: MTCC, in collaboration with the Italian League against Cancer (LILT) and the “Federico Calabresi” Foundation, publishes, on the UICC Map of events, the Guideline for managing cancer-associated pain

Cancer Day. Amman: Member Maisam Akroush releases an interview on Jordan TV network advocating cancer primary and secondary prevention https://youtu.be/w7Cmx-Hm9sA

February 25. Rome The Italian League Against Cancer (LILT), founded in 1922, celebrates its 100th Anniversary. During the celebration, LILT, in collaboration with MTCC, will bestow our Honorary Member HRH Princess Dina Mired, past UICC President and presently Honorary President of EORTC, with recognition of Her continuous engagement and advocacy in cancer control.

Princess Dine delivered the following keynote speech

Centennial Celebration Italian League for the Fight Against Cancer (LILT) 25 February 2022, Rome Keynote speech by HRH Princess Dina Mired Immediate Past President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) Former Director of the King Hussein Cancer Foundation Patron of International Society for Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) Honorary President of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Member of WHO Civil Society Working group on NCD’s

Your Excellency Roberto Speranza- Minister of Health, Your Excellency Dr Francesco Schittulli, LILT President All Members of the Italian Cancer League- past and present Colleagues from the Mediterranean Task Force for Cancer Control (MTCC) Esteemed guests

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this very important celebration. A celebration of 100 years of sustained and committed work against the “emperor of all maladies”- CANCER. In these corona times, I cannot start my speech before thanking you, our healthcare workers not only in Italy but also around the world. Words alone cannot express how we are beyond indebted to you all. You are putting your lives at risk, day in and day out, for the sake of saving us. You have given a new and profound meaning to the term “the ultimate sacrifice”. Within the cancer community, health providers and patients alike have undoubtedly suffered the worst of the double burden of the impact of the coronavirus. We all know that cancer does not wait for Covid-19 to end. Its destructive work is unfortunately genetically mapped out with absolute precision in timing and action. Cancer thrives when the system is broken. As a mother of a cancer survivor, I know only too well the worry of infection for an immunosuppressed cancer patient. To add to that the anguish of having essential services for early detection, diagnosis, or treatment canceled or delayed; when we all know that “timing” is crucial when it comes to cancer – …is just beyond imaginable. Having said that, it has been extremely heartening to learn about how our cancer community adapted to address the real challenges people face on the ground. The stories are nothing short of heroic, with both personal and collective endeavors being made to ensure that cancer diagnosis and treatment are not completely run over by the covid-19 destructive machine. However, despite these herculean efforts, early reports are already coming out talking about expected increased mortality for cancer patients because of all those delays and cancellations. As we speak today, we have 19.3 million new cancer patients with 10 million patients dying annually. 10 million fellow human beings – 70% of the dying still mainly carried by the poor and the disadvantaged within our global community, especially in Low Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Many of these cancer patients, still to this day, die needlessly from diseases that can be prevented, can be vaccinated against, can be screened for, and for which, in many cases, there is a cure. Cervical cancer is the most striking example, where widespread screening, early diagnosis, and HPV vaccination could lead to its eradication – and yet decisive action and adequate funding are still not forthcoming! 3 Why is that? Ironically, the fight against the coronavirus required us all to don “masks”. And yet, it took the coronavirus, at a tragic and exorbitant human cost, to actually “unmask” too many uncomfortable truths. For example, we have long spoken about the shortage of about 18 million healthcare workers all over the world. And we are seeing the devastating effect of that now. We have also spoken about the shortage of equipment, and medication, lack of efficient healthcare delivery systems, financial inaccessibility, and lack of a decisive and unified political will and strategy. All fell on deaf ears. One core issue that Covid-19 has also revealed and what we as a global health community have been actively calling for – for far too long- …end of the divisiveness between diseases. The global health community has always spoken out against the pitting of one disease over another; the either/or dichotomy of dealing with diseases rather than dealing with people, such as between communicable and non-communicable diseases. This faulty approach has shown us, that there are serious consequences in terms of both action and funding bias for one over another. This is one of the main reasons why LMIC’s cancer control and treatment infrastructure has long been delayed. In addition, we have also been calling for the importance of dealing with cancer comprehensively. From prevention to early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and palliative care. Unfortunately, until today, many countries are ready to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on treatment costs, and even late treatment, and refuse to invest in prevention and early detection that can save millions more in precious lives, finances and with the added benefit of not overburdening their health systems. It is like spending thousands of dollars on expensive security equipment for your home and then leaving all doors open! And Cancer not only knows all the loopholes but thrives on them. We know that some viruses lure him, and Cancer is drawn to certain families, often preying on generations We know that carcinogens attract him and Cancer loves toxic environmental pollution. But what cancer thrives on most of all, what provides him with over 30% of his lifeline, what fuels him, strengthens him is ignorant and neglectful. Cancer feeds on the inactive, the obese, on those whose lungs have been weakened by smoke, whose skin has been crisped by the sun, or whose bloodstreams have been drowned in alcohol. Those are the ones that tempt him most of all. And you as LILT have long known that. You have focused your lifetime’s work on shutting the door on cancer through your awareness campaigns on prevention. By so doing, you have protected the Italian people by arming them with the knowledge of how they can starve the cancer of his fuel. And through your awareness campaigns about the importance of early detection, you have exposed cancer before it can continue its destructive work. You have empowered your citizens with the life-saving knowledge that prevention and early detection do save lives. 4 Having said this, leading a so-called “healthy lifestyle” cannot be the sole responsibility of the individual. Lifestyle changes, as they are so-called, give the impression that it is a matter of choice or preference. But when unhealthy foods are more affordable than healthy when tobacco that kills is so easily available, and when facilities or space for exercise are non-existent, it becomes not a lifestyle choice, but a life sentence. As aptly put by Vital Strategies’ organization of which I am a proud ambassador, “It’s time to reimagine public health. We all need to understand that Good Health does not just happen! It is actively produced and protected for everyone, by everyone, across all facets of our lives— in our families communities, and countries. Good health is safe roads, clean air, accessible and affordable healthy unprocessed foods, and so on…It’s small choices and big policies. It’s the result of hundreds of decisions that each of us makes every day and an environment that makes the healthy choice the easy choice”. Thank you LILT for working for 100 years calling for and supporting the creation of an environment that makes the healthy choice the easy choice. I hope that once the Covid-19 nightmare is over, world leaders will take stock, rethink their priorities, and support the strengthening of health systems all over the world. Because the real war is no longer fought by the power of a gun, but by the power of a strong, sustainable, and buttressed health system that is equitable for all.

THANK YOU

January 2022 UICC Cancer Day. The leaflet ” Patients’ guidelines for the management of cancer-associated pain “,   which is available on our website in Italian, English, Arabic, and Macedonian and can be freely translated, is appearing in the Italian version of the 2022 World Cancer Day map of events occurring in Rome. The event takes place in collaboration with the Italian League Against Cancer, Rome Chapter, and  The “Federico Calabresi” Foundation.

March: HPV Day. In collaboration with the Italian League against Cancer Rome Chayther, the HPV Unit of the National Cancer Inst “Regina Elena” and the Federico Calabresi Fnd, MTCC publishes the ” Guidelines for cancer prevention in the LGBTQ+ Communities “

March: Our Young Member Valentina Iacobelli is corresponding from Africa while on a humanitarian mission focused on gynecologic malignancies

April: Our Member dr Christos Lionis and his Colleague Dr. Papamarkaki translate our guidelines for pain control into Greek

July : MTCC, with generous funding from the NIBIT (Italian Network for Bio Immuno Therapies), Fnd chaired by our Member Prof, Michele Maio and in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute “Regina Elena”, the Dermatologic Inst” San Gallicano” in Rome, and the Italian League Against Cancer Rome Chapter, develop the new App (Android and IOS) titled “Icaro al Sole” meant to provide prevention information regarding sun exposure during childhood as well to survey the current sun protection measures

Sept.: MTCC participates in the UICC World Cancer Congress Geneve, 18-20 October. Dr. Maisam Akroush will attend with the following Abstract

Increasing the effectiveness of cancer primary and secondary prevention. The Potential Role of Military Medical Forces.

Maisam Akroush MD, Pier Giorgio Natali MD. The Mediterranean Taskforce for Cancer Control ( MTCC, www.mtcc-prevention.net)

Prevention and Early Diagnosis are established priority strategies in cancer control. Therefore, the implementation and dissemination of policies aimed at translating these anticipatory care strategies into practice are critical in contrasting the foreseen increasing global cancer burden, changing epidemiology, the diminished role of primary care, costs, and disparities. The appreciation that military medicine can support global health is increasingly recognized. However, attempts to increase the engagement of military medicine in civil public health are limited. In consideration that in peacetime Military Medicine

• is caring for active and retired personnel and their family members in significant numbers with «no disparities»
• has a closer logistics and referral (Military Hospitals) between General Medicine and Specialists which is advantageous in limiting the occurrence of «advanced disease»
• can resort to Opportunistic screenings during the mandatory routine check-ups
• features robust command/control hierarchies which can enforce «adherence to guidelines»
• dealing with risk management can manage Environmental /Occupational relevant risks more efficiently
• is relatively shielded by changes in health care “economic restrictions”

Military General/Internal medicine and Specialists represent valuable supportive partners of their civilian counterparts in cancer control, primarily in diminishing the incidence of advanced disease, “The key challenge in cancer medicine”.

The history of public health has documented that only integrated programs resort to durable outcomes, thus MTCC strongly advocates that Military Medicine merges its defense and security missions with those of civil society at the national and global levels by enforcing the above activities which in peacetimes minimally conflict with the issue of “dual loyalty”.

Sept. 6-8. Siena. At the NIBIT Foundation Annual Meeting, organized by our Member Michele Maio, the Noble laureate in medicine 2018, Dr. James Allison endorses the APP ” Icaro al sole” to educate teenagers on correct sun exposure

Sept.:MTCC co-organizes in collaboration with the Dermatological Inst “S.Gallicano”. Rome a Workshop on HPV infection and oral cavity cancer

Oct.: Our Member Maisam Akroush organizes The first Pan-Arab/second Jordanian Women Physician Conference

2023 Activities

February, 4th. Cancer Day. The MTCC Member Dr. Aldo Venuti releases a press conference on HPV Vaccination on the  2023 UICC Cancer Day for the Italian Daily La Repubblica

The conference is hosted by one of the major Italian daily newspaper

“La Repubblica”

To follow the initiative organized through a collaboration with the “Regina Elena” National Cancer Inst. Rome, the Lega Italiana per la Lotta contro i Tumori (LILT) Rome Chapter, and the Federico Calabresi Foundation, Rome visit the UICC Cancer Day 2023 Map of Events

March,9th: Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, Honorary MTCC  Member, patronizes the Royal College of Physicians’s global program in Jordan to empower women in medicine as launched during the First and Second Jordanian Women Physician Conference organized by our Member Maisam Akroush, MTCC Vice President.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpkAbPiMtA9/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

June, 6th: MTCC Vice President Maisam Akroush co-organizes in collaboration with: the Royal Medical Services, the Pan Arab Women Physicians, Gynecological/Obs Soc, the MOH Epidemiology Dept, the Jordan Oncology Soc, the Family Doctors Soc. an HPV awareness Day

MTCC has taken the opportunity of the event to launch an innovative awareness message vehicle i e the sanitary pads boxes which will have this sticker on.

June, 6th: The MTCC Vice President Dr. Maisam Akroush contributes to the 2nd Jordan Regional Conference on Breast Cancer

June 28-30: MTCC Participates to the International Conference on Occupational and Environmental Health Advances,
Organized by the Collegium Ramazzini. Tirana, Albania

The MTCC Secretary General and MTCC Members Prof Tritan Shehu, Prof Enver Roshi, and Dr. Kurt Straif contributed to the event.

The Conference was held within the Collegium Ramazzini Special Program Regional Conferences

July 10-13 Cairo EDDW 21

MTCC is hosted in the section Colon Cancer at the ESEHG meeting organized by MTCC Member Prof Zakaria Serag

Chairman Ziad Shariha

CRC epidemiology Alfredo Saggioro                  

CRC in special group Maysam Akroush  

CRC screening Nurdan  Tozun 

Liquid biopsy in CRC Pier G Natali    

Laparoscopic Surgery – the preferred method for treatment of CRC  Vlado Dimov   

August 2 MTCC Members, Aldo Venuti, Maisam Akroush, and Pier G Natali are interviewed by Intern Papilloma Virus Society regarding the MTCC
Innovative policy to raise awareness about cervical cancer which has been successfully explored, in Jordan through the initiative of our Vice President.
Find below the link to the interview  of the Intern Papilloma Virus Society to MTCC regarding

https://www.askabouthpv.org/hpv-facts/hpv-stories/hpv-awareness-day-in-jordan-dont-fear-the-smear

Sept 16-19 Rome

MTCC section is hosted in the 12th International Meeting on Probiotics, Prebiotics and New Food organized by the MTCC Member Prof Lucio
Capurso in Memory of MTCC Member Massimo Crespi and Alberto Montori

MEDITERRANEAN TASK FORCE FOR CANCER CONTROL (MTCC) Chairing: P. G. Natali (Italy) 08.30 – 08.50 Green platforms for vaccine production A. Venuti (Italy) 08.50 – 09.10 Antioxidants in cancer prevention and therapy A. Saggioro (Italy) 09.10 – 09.30 Antioxidants as tools for preventing chemo-radiotherapy-induced mucositis C. Pulito (Italy) 09.30 – 09.50 Tomato and olive phytocompounds as population remedy for environmental pollutants M. Minacori (Italy)

Oct 5-7: Our Member prof Michele Maio, President of the NIBIT Fnd organizes the Annual Think Thank meeting on Immunotherapy in Siena (Italy)

Oct 21-25 MTCC participates in the Collegium Ramazzini International Conference on the Environment, Work and Health in the 21st Century: Strategies and Solutions to a Global Crisis. Bologna (Italy
Session: Cancer care and prevention Chairs: Ludwine Casteleyn, Belgium; Kurt Straif, Spain and USA
The Mediterranean Task Force for Cancer Control (MTCC): In the fight against cancer Pier Giorgio Natali, Italy

Nov 6-7: Our Member Carol El Jabary with publicize the MTCC  Pain Control Leaflets, co-edited with the “Federico Calabresi” Fnd, Rome, and the Jerusalem Patient’s Friends Soc.

NOVEMBER 6TH

MTCC joints the “Collegium Ramazzini” in  Condemning Violence in Israel and Gaza

As public health scientists, physicians, and humanitarians, the Fellows of the Collegium Ramazzini join with all people of goodwill to decry the violence, suffering, and loss of life in Israel and Gaza, most poignantly, that of many women, children, and vulnerable elders. Recognizing war as a public health crisis, we urgently warn of the mounting human suffering resulting from escalating violence and commit ourselves individually and collectively to provide for the immediate needs of these suffering populations and to promote just alternatives for an enduring peace.

Dec 13-15, MTCC crosses the Atlantic. Member Aldo Venuti lectures at the Italian-Brazilian workshop on human papillomavirus

2024 Activities

Cancer Day, Febr 4th MTCC Vice President Dr. Maisam Akhroush receives an Award from the Royal College of Physicians for Her social commitment