New cancer cases among females in Italy 2020, by type of cancer

The estimated number of new cancer cases among females in Italy was 181,857 in 2020. Some types of cancer are much more common than others. In fact, as the data shows, breast cancer was by far the most prevalent cancer type among females in Italy, with almost 55 thousand estimated new cases. Colorectal and lung cancer followed, with roughly 20 and 13 thousand individuals expected to suffer from these diseases, respectively. These two types of cancer were very common among Italian men as well.

Cancer mortality

The cancer mortality rate among women in Italy reached 73.06 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021, less than the average for Europe as a whole, at 79.38. During this year, over 81 thousand women died from cancer in Italy. Most of them died due to breast cancer, followed by lung and colorectal cancer.

Breast cancer screening

Although breast cancer is the deadliest cancer for women, the percentage of Italian women undergoing breast cancer screening decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting from 75.1 percent in 2019 to 68.8 percent in 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, the Italian region with the highest percentage of women screened for breast cancer was Friuli-Venezia Giulia, with 89.6 percent.