The best colon cancer treatment centers in Italy

Colon cancer treatment in Italy is becoming increasingly popular: which clinics are recommended for medical tourists?

The incidence of colorectal cancer in Italy is extremely high: in 2015, more than 50,000 new cases were diagnosed.

Not surprisingly, local hospitals and institutes are paying increased attention to this disease.

To date, different treatments are available, including surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and monoclonal antibody treatments.

The 5-year survival rate, with an average of around 50%, can easily reach 80-95% in the case of early diagnosis and treatment.

Prevention through national screening programs after 50 is therefore the most effective tool. For this reason, it is necessary to rely on cancer centers with proven experience in order to ensure a correct diagnosis and proper therapy planning.

Local experts interviewed Italians and medical tourists to determine the best colon cancer clinics and hospitals. This rating also takes into account such objective indicators as the number of admissions and interventions performed each year, professional profiles of the team, clinical outcomes, scientific publications and technologies used.

As a result of this complex research, here is a list of two dozen medical centers across the country specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.

Top-18 colon cancer treatment centers in Italy

#1 Policlinico Gemelli and the Columbus Integrated Complex

Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome is considered one of the most experienced; with more than 430 surgical interventions per year resulted in first place in the regional and the national rating.

#2 Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria pisana

Pisa University Hospital in Pisa is known for its surgical unit, which performs 70-75% of operations on the intestine laparoscopically. These minimally invasive techniques help to improve the outcomes by reducing hospitalization, pain and blood loss.

#3 AOUC Ospedale Careggi

Careggi University Hospital in Florence is specialized in robotic surgery; through minimally invasive robotic surgical procedures that already standardized in other areas, Careggi provides excellent results of colon resection.

#4 Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Polyclinic

The Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna is the home of Ardizzoni cancer department, which has been certified by ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) in 2009 as a place where cancer therapy and palliative care are strongly integrated.

#5 AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza

AOU “City of Health and Science” in Turin is the first diagnostic center in Italy to use Virtual colonoscopy (CT scanning) for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Recently the company has signed an agreement with the Candiolo Cancer Institute for the virtual colonoscopy examinations.

#6 IRCCS Casa Sollievo Della Sofferenza

IRCCS Home of Suffering in San Giovanni Rotondo specializes in the genetic and molecular study of normal and cancerous colon tissue using the cutting-edge microchip technology.

#7 Istituto Nazionale Per Lo Studio E La Cura Dei Tumori

National Institute for the Study and Treatment of Tumors "Fondazione Pascale" performs 400+ major abdominal surgery interventions each year, including resections of colon tumors pre-treated with radio-chemotherapy). Local surgeons widely use laparoscopic and robotic minimally invasive approach.

#8 Azienda Ospedaliera San Martino IST

San Martino IST Hospital in Genoa is a center of reference for precancerous lesions of the esophagus, stomach and colon. This center is involved in the clinical trials on the new biological molecules available today for colorectal cancer treatment in Europe.

#9 Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata

Integrated University Hospital in Verona is well-known for Endoscopic Surgery Service that adopts the ESD technique (Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection). The hospital accepts foreign medical tourists who can receive here a qualitatively minimally invasive treatment in comfortable conditions.

#10 Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria

University Hospital in Padua is the integrated network of national excellence in the field of colorectal cancer by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. 40% of patients with colon cancer received innovative drugs here due to the availability of numerous clinical trials. 

#11 AOU Consorziale - Policlinico di Bari

Consortium AOU - Bari Polyclinic is the place where the method "Inside the Breath" was discovered to calculate the probability of having a colon cancer by analyzing exhaled air, as in spirometry.

#12 Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Nazionale Dei Tumori

IRCCS Foundation National Cancer Institute in Milan is the international reference center for the surgical treatment of primary and recurrent colorectal tumors, with particular reference to the adenocarcinomas of the distal rectum and the rare oncological diseases. 

#13 Azienda Policlinico Umberto I

Umberto I Polyclinic in Rome is the home of Multidisciplinary Center dedicated to colon cancer. Hospital ensures integrated diagnosis and treatment, innovative and coordinated by a single health professional.

#14 Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Parma

University Hospital of Parma studies the use of targeted pharmacological agents, "biological therapies", which increase the probability of success by reducing the toxicity of the colon cancer treatment. 

#15 Istituto Europeo Di Oncologia - IEO

European Institute of Oncology (IEO) in Milan is specializes in rectal cancer treatment using the robotic technique. With more than 300 patients treated, this is one of the most experienced centers in the world.

#16 A.R.N.A.S. Garibaldi

ARNAS Garibaldi in Catania: in 2015, Garibaldi-Nesima Oncological Department has performed 2000 surgical interventions, of which 400 - for bowel surgery. In 2016 ARNAS received ISO 9001 certificate.

#17 IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele

IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan is working based on multidisciplinary collaboration between surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists and radiotherapists dealing with rare oncological diseases.

#18 Azienda Ospedaliera Santa Maria Della Misericordia

Santa Maria Della Misericordia Hospital in Perugia: the Molecular Biology Lab performs high-profile molecular diagnostic examinations. Cutting-edge tests to predict the response to targeted agents in advanced colon cancer treatment are carried out in this Italian clinic.

© Analytical reviews and oncology news by K. Mokanov: clinical pharmacist and professional medical translator