From January 1, 2015 Paolo Veronesi will be the new Director of the Division of Breast Surgery at the European Institute of Oncology, created and directed by his father Umberto until 2000. This is a sign of continuity in that the IEO excellence in research and care of breast cancer will keep developing,
Paolo Veronesi succeeds Alberto Luini, who remains at IEO as Co-Director, together with Prof. Goldhirsch in the "Breast Program": a forefront organizational approach to improve the effectiveness of treatments and the quality of life of patients, that involves a close integration between research, genetics, diagnosis and therapy.
Paolo Veronesi, 53, from Milan, is Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Milan and is the author of 231 scientific publications. His personal clinical cases are among the widest in Europe, with more than 7,000 patients having been operated over the past 15 years. His contribution to clinical and research activities has been critical to the innovations developed at IEO in the care of breast cancer, representing the most important advances in breast oncology on an international level. The technique of sentinel lymph nodes, radio-guided localization of non-palpable lesions (ROLL), intra-operative radiotherapy, are some examples. Together with these are the surgical treatment in Day Surgery and innovations in reconstructive surgery to minimize the psychological distress linked to the disease.
"It is my intention - Paolo Veronesi said – to continue the path that my father started forty years ago, putting people at the center, taking into account not only the effectiveness of care, but also the quality of life during and after treatment. I am proud to participate in the new Breast Care Program, in which collaborate Aron Goldhirsch and Giuseppe Viale, two profiles internationally recognized in their respective fields of medical oncology and pathologic anatomy. All together, we will develop research in breast care, especially in the areas of searching MiRNAs in the blood for anticipating diagnosis and gene characterization for the personalization of cancer treatments. Already today, tumors at initial stage treated at IEO are cured in over 90% of cases. It is therefore reasonable to assume a goal of zero deaths."
The European Institute of Oncology has an undisputed world record in the treatment of breast cancer, with over 3,400 interventions per year and results higher than the international averages: clinical cure at 5 years of IEO patients with negative lymph nodes is greater than 97% and is consistent with that reported by the American registry SEER, and is even higher in women operated for tumors with lymph node involvement (92% compared to 86% in the US). For invasive cancer, an analysis of 12,000 women operated at IEO during the period 1994-2005 showed 92% clinical cure at 5 years, higher than the national average, which is estimated at about 85% (EUROCARE Study).