Gianluca Franceschini: Inside the Integrated Breast Center of Gemelli Polyclinic

The Integrated Breast Center at Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS combines advanced surgical, medical, and radiation treatments with integrated supportive therapies like psychological support and physical rehabilitation. Focused on innovation, research, and education, it provides holistic care that addresses both the clinical and emotional needs of each patient.

Professor Gianluca Franceschini, Full-time Professor of General Surgery and Director of the Center since November 2024, emphasizes the role of integrated therapies such as psychological support, acupuncture, and physical activity that complement conventional cancer treatments. He highlights the importance of a united, multidisciplinary team that approaches each patient’s case together, fostering collaborative decision-making and a holistic, person-centered approach.

Professor Gianluca Franceschini shared insights into the Center’s daily work and philosophy:

“Inside the Integrated Breast Center of the Gemelli Polyclinic: our daily work, together!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk about our Center in an interview, published here.

I really appreciated the attention received. But today I feel the need to start telling it in the first person as well.

I have been working in the Integrated Breast Center of the Gemelli Polyclinic since its inception.
From 1 November 2024 I have the honour and privilege of being its Director.

The Integrated Breast Center was born from a clear idea: to offer women a complete, dedicated and integrated path in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Professionals from many disciplines work together here, dedicated to senology. It’s not just a team. It is a united, cohesive group that confronts itself every day, case by case, person by person.

Our work is not limited to care. We accompany patients throughout the process, even in the most difficult moments, with attention to relationships, communication and respect for each person’s emotions.

In the next posts I will try to tell you something more. I will do it without fuss but with the desire to share the value that I see taking shape every day:

thanks to an extraordinary team and to meet the patients who rely on us

Because care for us is a shared responsibility!!”

“Multidisciplinarity, every day: the heart of our shared work

After the first post, I would like to focus on an aspect that profoundly defines the way we work and care:
MULTIDISCIPLINARITY.

Every day, for years, I have been living the Integrated Breast Center of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS from the inside; with colleagues, with patients, with those who make possible a work that is, first of all, choral.

We often talk about MULTIDISCIPLINARITY. For us, it is not an abstract concept. It is our daily reality. It’s the way we approach each case, each person. Together!!️

Each decision arises from the comparison between different voices: radiologists – surgeons – oncologists – radiation therapists – anatomo-pathologists – geneticists – psychologists – geriatricians – specialists in integrated therapies and palliative care – physiotherapists – nutritionists – nurses and other professionals dedicated to senology.

Each with their own expertise. Each with their own responsibility.
No one alone.

Because the best decision is often not the one you make alone. It’s the one you build together with others! !️

Two real and concrete spaces help us to make all this possible:

The “Multidisciplinary Meetings” of senology (Tumor Board and Surgery Board) where each clinical case is discussed in a collegial way.

The “Breast Club” that we wanted to call the House of Breast Specialists of the Gemelli Polyclinic. A lively, informal place, where we grow together. Where articles, experiences, questions, updates are shared. Where the idea that care is, and must always be, a team effort is strengthened every time.

This is our daily life! Not always easy, often complex, but always deeply shared.

And it is precisely in this silent and constant work, done together, that every day I see value born.

In the next posts I will continue to tell about our Integrated Breast Center. With sincerity, without fuss. As we do every day: with passion, commitment, rigor and respect.”

“The PIDTA of the Integrated Breast Center of the Gemelli Polyclinic: A path that really puts the person at the center

Over the years, working every day in the field, I have understood one fundamental thing: care cannot be standardized.
Every woman is different. It’s unique.
And so must his path too.

From this awareness was born the PIDTA – Integrated Diagnostic, Therapeutic Assistance Pathway – conceived in our Integrated Breast Center of the Fondazione Agostino Gemelli University Hospital IRCCS.

It is an innovative approach that combines traditional cancer therapies with complementary treatments, creating a complete and personalized treatment pathway.

An approach that combines:
– Clinical Expertise
– Human Relations
– constant and personalized attention

The real difference? It is that “I” for Integrated.

Because Integrated Therapies are a structural part of our clinical pathway: not ancillary, not alternative but complementary and indispensable.

Within the Center there is a Simple Operating Unit of Integrated Therapies, directed by Dr. Stefano Magno, with a passionate and competent multidisciplinary team.
We work in close synergy with the Clinical Psychology Unit, directed by Prof. Daniela Pia Rosaria Chieffo, to offer a truly complete path.

Activities include:

• Psychological support
• Acupuncture
• Nutritional support
• Dedicated physical activity
• Physiotherapy
• Mindfulness and relaxation techniques
• Shiatsu
• Reflexology
• Art therapy and music therapy

This precious Unit was born thanks to the support of Komen Italia and the vision of Prof. Riccardo Masetti, confirming how much psycho-physical well-being is an integral part of cancer care today.

Integrated therapies:

– do not replace, but complement
– make cancer therapies more tolerable
– help correct lifestyles
– promote the recovery of mental and physical well-being

To care, to care and to accompany. This is the deepest meaning of our work.
And to do it really well you need time, listening, discussion and a team that believes in it every day.

Thank you very much to all of them!

In the next posts I will continue to tell about our work at the Center, with the same sincerity. Because sharing is also a way to grow. Together.”

“Innovation in Senology: surgery, therapies and personal care

Every day, for years, I have been in the field: as a breast surgeon, and, since November, also as Director of the Integrated Breast Center of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS.

Our work is based on technique, experience, responsibility. But also, and always, on listening, respect, attention to the person.

For us, innovation is not just technology. It is a more precise, more human, more sustainable way of caring.

Breast surgery: more conservative, more respectful
In our Center we adopt a surgical approach that aims to preserve the breast, whenever possible, without ever compromising oncological efficacy.

We perform:

• Conservative surgery with oncoplastic techniques
• Nipple-sparing mastectomies with immediate breast reconstruction
• Endoscopic video-assisted mastectomies → no visible scars, minimal aesthetic impact
• Sentinel lymph node biopsy for targeted, less invasive treatments

Thanks to the most recent evidence, today we can customize and descale surgical treatments, to the point of omitting surgery in selected patients, always in total safety.

Tailor-made Medical Therapies and Radiotherapies

Each therapeutic choice stems from a multidisciplinary assessment that considers:

• Biological and molecular profile of the tumor
• Staging of the disease
• Age, comorbidities, values and expectations of the patient
• Genetic alterations and biometric characteristics

Radiotherapy also follows the same approach: we use the latest generation technologies that allow us to irradiate precisely, protecting healthy tissues as much as possible.

Innovation that also protects the quality of life.

We believe in an oncology that cures without hurting. In our PIDTA (Integrated Diagnostic Therapeutic Assistance Pathway), Integrated Therapies play a fundamental role.

They help manage:

• Fatigue
• Pain
• Physical and psychological disorders related to treatments

Because innovating also means not neglecting the well-being of those who are facing the disease.

Technology alone is not enough. We need shared clinical choices, a team that dialogues, a gaze that recognizes the person, not just the disease.

This is true innovation. The one we practice every day.”

“Research and Training: solid foundations for a more effective treatment

In the Integrated Breast Center of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Research and Training are not separate elements from care.
They are concrete tools to improve it every day, for every person.

Research is inside the cureю
Research is the result of daily clinical discussion and translates into real, accessible and safe opportunities for our patients.

Every year we offer the opportunity to access:

– Clinical studies in collaboration with the main Italian and international groups
– Translational studies to make therapies increasingly personalized
– Research on quality of life and integrated therapies

Each participation is evaluated carefully and transparently, in compliance with the path shared with the patient within our PIDTA (Integrated Diagnostic, Therapeutic and Assistance Pathway).

Training is part of care

Growing, studying, sharing: every formative moment strengthens our model of care.

Our activities include:

– Seminars and scientific updates promoted in our Breast Club
– Organization and participation in specialized congresses and conferences
– A constant dialogue between professionals from different disciplines

Alongside these activities, we promote two University Masters, directed by me:

– Master’s Degree in “Integrated Therapies in Female Oncological Pathologies”
– Master in “Breast Nurse”

For us, Research and Education are not an add-on. They are the basis for an increasingly effective, personalized and future-oriented treatment.”

“A model that grows, every day.

With this series of posts I wanted to tell, in a simple and direct way, the identity and work of the Integrated Breast Center of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS.

A model built in the field, day after day, thanks to the concrete commitment of many people.

A model based on:

• Real multidisciplinarity
• Customized integrated routes
• Attention to integrated therapies
• Research, continuous training
• Listening and relationship with patients

It’s not a perfect model, but it’s real.
And it is based on a clear direction: integrate skills, build trust, care.

Thanks to those who entrust us with their trust.
Thanks to those who, every day, make all this possible.

Together every day, with care and listening.”

More posts featuring Gianluca Franceschini on OncoDaily.