Revenge porn in the Italian regulatory and social context: new crime or old blackmail?

Revenge porn is the online publication on websites of explicit photographs or videos taken in intimate moments without the person's consent. It is a new form of gender-based violence, as the majority of victims are women. This phenomenon has been growing in recent years due to the increase in popularity and spread of social networks. Since the start of social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem has undoubtedly become more serious. The most affected groups are women and adolescents. Phenomena such as revenge porn and cyber-bullying are aberrant aspects of online relationships. Although different in their specificity, they have many elements in common, which, unfortunately, in some cases, have led to dramatic out-comes, pushing the victims to suicide. This contribution aims at fully framing the issue from a social point of view and outlining its legal characteristics with reference to the European and Italian legal framework, starting from the analysis of the data presented within the report presented on 24 November 2020 by the Italian Ministry of Justice, containing a statistical analysis of the impact in terms of diffusion of the revenge porn phenomenon one year after the entry into force of the law of 19 July 2019 (the so-called "Codice Rosso”), which introduced the specific crime of unlawful dissemination of sexually explicit images or videos. © 2022 Author(s).

Use of Telemedicine and Home Infusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the management difficulties of NMDs patients and the necessity to continue the program of implementation of standard of care yet started in Europe with the definition of the ERNs and with different applications in the various European countries. It will be increasingly necessary to favor and further develop smart management care through the implementation of IT platforms, telemedicine services and other eHealth technologies. In the near future we are moving towards a health system that supports scientific research, strengthens prevention, and brings medicine home. The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced the health care system to undergo profound rearrangements in its services and facilities. In this setting, inpatient and outpatient services had to rethink and reorganize their activities to meet the needs of patients during the lockdown. The rapid and abrupt COVID-19 shutdowns and stay-at-home orders imposed challenges to routine clinical management and clinical trials. The opportunity for real-world evaluation and reduced patient burden are clear benefits to remote assessment and may provide a more robust understanding and characterization of disease impact in NMD. The quality of patient-physician relationship, the modality of remote clinical assessment and monitoring, and the administration of therapies are the key elements to be provided in neuromuscular Telemedicine. Telemedicine permits the maintenance of a close patient-physician relationship. Other important aspect is digital therapies: I.e., access in hospital settings to perform medical therapies that can be performed only and exclusively in protected settings (such as antisense oligonucleotides for SMA or Patisiran for genetic amyloidosis), but some treatments can be home-based, such as subcutaneous immunoglobulins, or enzyme replacement therapy for Pompe disease.

Personal attitudes and denialist views about the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: a national survey

Since COVID-19 began to spread, hypotheses about the possible causes of the disease and its treatment have increased worldwide, engenedering fears and concerns. This context of uncertainty, as well as the great changes that people were forced to accept in their daily lives, have challenged the general population, affecting public opinion and collective imagination inevitably, with also a negative impact on compliance with public health policies. This study explored the personal attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with denial stances in the Italian context. The aim was to address the relevance of these phenomena and in what guise they are present in relation to the grounds supporting them, as an avenue to be more effective in public health under different domains. An online questionnaires was set out to survey the general population over 18 throughout the Italian country, including students and health professionals, to offer geographic and professional diversity. General population was also stratified based on their direct or indirect experience of COVID-19, whilst health participants were recruited with regard to their involvement in a COVID centre. A total of 2110 questionnaire were filled out between December 2020 and April 2021. Of the participants, 85.45% completely disagree with the possibility that COVID-19 is not real and that the cultural, social and economic system wanted us to believe otherwise, whereas 69% had doubts about what has been claimed to date about the existence of COVID-19. Trust in institutions and types of COVID-19 experience affected these beliefs. The results also show that stress, anxiety, sadness, and vulnerability increased as compared to the pre-COVID- 19 pandemic timeframe. The fundings of this national survey revealed how much behaviors based on social responsibility and rational prudence are important for defensing human life. © AUDT 2022.

AIGkit, the mobile app for patients with pompe disease: Results and future prospectives

AIGkit is an easy-to-use mobile application, created with the aim of allowing a telematic interaction between adult patient with Pompe disease and clinicians that can be downloaded for free on smartphone. After a first phase, whose results were presented as oral communication at AIM congress in 2018 and 2019, and published as original article in Neuromuscolar Disorders, the second operational phase of the project has been activated for its use in real life and clinical practice. The pre-established goal has been therefore to create an informatic platform for the collection of clinical data where each patient can access through the personal app on their smartphone, in order to allow the registration of their data and facilitate interaction with their clinicians. The design activity and procedures, despite the difficulties encountered in the various phases also caused by the Sars-COVID-19 emergency, were carried out to meet the requirements of the privacy guarantor, in order to activate the use of the platform and the real-time sharing of the data collected remotely on the app of each patients. We are now planning the dissemination of the initiative at national level and the implementation of this project in collaboration with other clinical centers that will be able to use the servers of the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana (AOUP) as coordinating center, thus improving value and utility for users, both patients and clinicians.

Role of meteorological factors in the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Italy.

OBJECTIVE: Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the coming months is a matter of great importance and urgency for governments worldwide, making fundamental decisions based on what is known about the transmission mechanisms of the virus and its survival in the environment. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of demographic variables, solar radiation and relative humidity on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic of the various regions in Italy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective longitudinal study was conducted, and data used in this study was obtained from the Italian Health Ministry. Descriptive statistics included mean, frequency, and percentage, and results presented by graphs were calculated. RESULTS: The infection trend was investigated by comparing it with the demographic situation and the irradiation indices of solar ultraviolet light that are detected with the changing seasons. The present study reported that the geographic areas with higher population density and lower solar radiation during the autumn and winter months were most affected by SARS-CoV-2. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis carried out can provide a predictive model for the future phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, regardless of the adoption of lockdown measures and behavioral factors.

An interesting case of multiple district vascular involvement related to the SARS-CoV2 infection

76-year-old man, hypertensive, suffering from permanent atrial fibrillation in treatment with Apixaban 5mg x 2/day. Hyperpiressia for a few days, treated with broad- spectrum antibiotic therapy. For the appearance of dyspnea and constricting retrosternal pain of about 20 minutes, he accessed to the emergency room of “San Paolo” Hospital in Bari. Electrocardiogram showed high ventricular response atrial fibrillation, while echocardiogram hypokinesia of the apical segments and moderate left ventricular dysfunction. Blood tests showed an increase in myocardial troponines. Chest angio CT highlited bilateral ground glass pulmonary thickening and pleural effusion, in the absence of signs of pulmonary thromboembolysm. The first molecular swab for SARS COV2 resulted negative. Subsequent admission to Cardiology Unit. During the hospitalization, coronary artery showed non-significant atheromasia of the epicardic branches and slow run-off of the anterior interventricular artery and right coronary artery. Subsequent pneumological evaluation made the indication to therapy with cephalosporins and corticosteroids and clinical- instrumental follow-up. The patient was discharged after a few days with a diagnosis of ACS-NSTEMI. After 8 days, new access to the emergency room due to worsening of dyspnea. For high D- dimer values, he underwent a new chest angio CT which showed pulmonary embolism and confirmed the presence of pulmonary parenchymal thickening already described. The new molecular swab documented positivity for SARS-COV2. Therefore, the patient wea hospitalized in the COVID department. After a few hours, weakness of the right arm appeared;skull CT and neurological evaluation concluded for probable cerebral ischemic episode. SARS-COV2 disease could lead to a multi-organ hyperergic inflammatory response. In this clinical case, there was the involvement of multiple vascular districts (cardiac, pulmonary), and in addition, a brain perfusion deficit of a probably cardioembolic nature, despite adequate oral anticoagulant therapy with DOAC that had been taken for some time. Currently, the effectiveness of DOACs is not known in patients with SARS-COV2 infection and, above all, whether these drugs are able to counteract the hypercoagulation tendency associated with systemic vasculitis that accompanies the most complex clinical infection.

Minoca or post-infection coronary vasculitis of SARS-CoV2?

SARS-COV2 causes a large inflammatory response. The effects on the cardiac and vascular system are still being studied. Clinical Case: A 50-year-old man came to the emergency room of our hospital for fever and asthenia. For the positivity for SARS-COV2 and radiographic finding of bilateral interstitial pneumonia, he was hospitalized at the U.O. COVID, where for hypoxemic respiratory insufficiency he was subjected to ventilotherapy with CPAP. The improvement in respiratory failure and the negativization of the nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-COV2 indicated discharge. The patient underwent a pre-discharge ECG which showed negative T waves in the inferior site and from V3-V6 not present in the previous one. Dosage of cardiac cytonecrosis indices showed troponin T HS (34, ng/l v.n. <14 ng/l) slightly increased;blood chemistry tests show CRP equal to 26 mg/dl and normal leukocyte number and formula. The 2d color Doppler echocardiogram reported: “Akinesia of the mid-apical portion of the septum, apex and lower wall, with an FE equal to 45%. Presence of a slight pericardial detachment of the lateral wall of the left ventricle.” The patient was transferred to our U.O. of Cardiology, who underwent coronary angiography showing normal coronaries. With the suspicion of SARS-COV2 myocarditis, the patient underwent cardiac MRI which confirmed the akinesias shown on the echocardiogram. Late enhancement in subendocardial disposition consistent with an acute ischemic injury in these sites was evident on T2- weighted sequences. Discussion: Normal coronary myocardial infarctions (MINOCA) are described in the literature and it is hypothesized that the inflammatory reaction and hypoxia caused by SARS-COV2 may play a central role in the pathogenesis of ischemic disorder. The district nature of the lesion compatible with a coronary atherosclerotic obstruction not detected on angiographic examination, however, needs to be clarified. The vasculitis resulting from the infection can explain the locality of the lesion on the echocardiogram and on the ECG but opens the discussion on therapeutic choices.

Septic shock and reversible right ventricle dysfunction

Background: Right ventricle involvement during sepsis is often misunderstood, although it is described that an altered performance of the right ventricle is present in 2/3 of cases of moderate to severe forms of sepsis. Clinical Case: 30 years old woman without known cardiovascular risk factors with a history of multiple psychiatric disorders. Access to the emergency departement of our hospital complaining asthenia and hypotension. The patient underwent cardiological evaluation with EKG findings of sinus tachycardia and diffuse ST-T anomalies and bidimensional echocardiogram negative for biventricular kinetic anomalies. Laboratory evidence of creatinine 2.07 mg/dl, slight increase in inflammation indices (CRP 38 mg/dl) and anemia (HB: 9.2 g/l). Swab for SARS-COV2 was negative. The patient was then admitted to the local department of Medicine. During hospitalization, evidence of hypotension and progressive worsening of inflammation indices. Due to addominal pain, the patient underwent EGDS showing hiatal hernia. Subsequent onset of fever, with negative urine culture and positive blood cultures for S. Epidermidis. In addition, due to the detection of involuntary movements of the limbs and eyelids she was subjected to cerebral MRI in suspicion of encephalitis, that was excluded. At a subsequent cardiological and echocardiographic evaluation, finding of “Hypocontractile right ventricle, volume overload of the right sections with paradoxical movement of the interventricular septum, PAPs: 50 mmHg”. On chestabdomen CT scan “absence of focal pulmonary lesions and bilateral pleural effusions, patent pulmonary circulation, absence of thrombotic filling defects”. The patient was therefore transferred to our cardiology departement with diagnosis of septic shock. During hospitalization, evidence of hypokalemia, long QT interval (> 500 msec) and self-limiting polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. After long-term therapy with inotropics and antibiotics, we found a significant clinical improvement with echocardiographic evidence of complete recovery of right ventricular performance. The case described is a paradigmatic example of reversible alteration of right ventricle systolic function during septic shock (severe sepsis). The different pathogenetic determinants, however, are still debated. There are two possible hypotheses: inflammatory myocardial right ventricle involvement (myocarditis) or vasculitic involvement of right ventricle, sustained by inflammatory stress and bacteremia.

First Surveillance of Violence against Women during COVID-19 Lockdown: Experience from "Niguarda" Hospital in Milan, Italy

Violence against women emerges with tragic regularity in the daily news. It is now an evident trace of a dramatic social problem, the characteristics of which are not attributable to certain economic, cultural, or religious conditions of the people involved but affect indiscriminately, in a unanimous way, our society. The study is a survey about the number of hospital admissions due to episodes attributable to violence against women, recorded by the Niguarda Hospital in Milan in the period 1 March-30 May from 2017 to 2020. This period, in 2020, corresponds to the coronavirus Lockdown in Italy. All the medical records of the Emergency department were reviewed, and the extracted data classified in order to identify the episodes of violence against women and the features of the reported injuries and the characteristics of the victims. The data did not show an increase in the number of cases in 2020 compared to previous years, but we did find a notable increase in the severity of injuries.

Training and information during covid19 pandemic: The masterpiece in young oncologists

Background: COVID 19 pandemic was a health emergency that required a rapid response by the Italian National Health System. Healthcare professionals needed to be properly trained and informed about their patients' procedures and proper management. During an emergency, the information must be exhaustive, clear and timely to allow correct diagnostic and therapeutic continuity. It is also important that all health workers are promptly and homogeneously trained to guarantee the best treatment path even during pandemic. Our survey aimed to investigate the level of information and training of health workers in oncology during the pandemic and, in particular, the difference in perception between under and over 35 years operators. Material and Methods: An on-line multiple choices survey was submitted to oncology health workers during the pandemic to investigate individual perception of resources, information and staff training management by hospital centers. No open questions were included. Results: A total of 383 health workers replied to the survey (116 under 35 years versus 267 over 35 years). In the under 35s group a total of 65% declared they had been timely and sufficiently informed to understand the extent of the problem compared to 50% of over 35 (p=0.007). About 80% of young professionals were adequately informed and two thirds (63%) was formed about procedures/ recommendations to be followed during the pandemic. But in professionals over 35 only 56% declared to have the right information and over 65% did not feel adequately trained (p= <0.01). Furthermore, 44% of over 35 felt not sufficiently prepared for the management of the cancer patient during an epidemic compared to only 28% of the under 35 (p=0.015). Conclusions: The survey showed a different perception of information and training of healthcare professionals based on the age group. This could be determined by a different degree of task and responsibility but also by the greater and faster readiness of the younger operators to acquire new information and to draw a renewed ability to face an emergency by reorganizing themselves quickly and actively.

Covid19 pandemic: Patients' perspective during cancer treatment

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has been declared global pandemic and Italy is one of the first and heavily affected countries. Cancer patients are a population at higher risk from COVID-19 both for intrinsic fragility bound to their underlying disease and oncologic treatment delay. Aim of our survey was to investigate how cancer patients perceived their health condition, their clinical management and information communication by their medical oncologists during the pandemic. Methods: Between 15th April and 1st May 2020 a survey was submitted to cancer patients under treatment at hospitals of Marche Region which had been invested by the pandemic. It consisted of questions regarding the perception of personal safety, continuity of cancer care and information quality provided by the Oncology Department and individual psychological distress. Results: A total of 661 patients participated in the survey;60.2% was female and 40.4% was aged between 46 and 65. Almost all of the attendees (97.7%) stated that the Oncologic Department complied with the appropriate safety standards and 78% was reassured about their concerns during the medical interview, but 41% was worried of being at higher risk of infection upon entry into the Oncology Department and 53.3% felt being at greater risk of infection because of chemotherapy treatment in general. The majority of the participants (62.2%) felt that postponing cancer treatment could reduce its efficacy, however 80% declared they did not feel abandoned at the time of treatment delay. 79.4% of the attendees felt more worried for their underlying disease in this emergency situation, but the mood worsened only for 34.2% of the participants. Conclusions: Our survey reveals that Oncology Departments have been considered worthy of the emergency in terms of safety standards and care management by cancer patients. However, the majority of attendees perceived the mutual negative influence between their underlying oncologic disease and risk of Sars-CoV-2 infection and manifested concerns about their health condition highlighting the need for special measures to ensure safe continuity of care.

Training and information during COVID-19 pandemic: The masterpiece in young oncologists

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was a health emergency that required a rapid response by the ItalianNational Health System. Health care professionals needed to be properly trained and informed about their patients'procedures and proper management. During an emergency, the information must be exhaustive, clear, and timely toallow correct diagnostic and therapeutic continuity. It is also important that all health workers are promptly andhomogeneously trained to guarantee the best treatment path even during the pandemic. Our survey aimed toinvestigate the level of information and training of health workers in oncology during the pandemic and, in particular, the difference in perception between operators under and over 35 years of age. Materials and Methods: An on-line multiple-choice survey was submitted to oncology health workers during thepandemic, investigating individual perception of resources, information, and staff training management by hospitalcenters. No open questions were included. Results: A total of 383 health workers replied to the survey (116 under 35 years versus 267 over 35 years). In theunder-35 group, a total of 65% declared they had been timely and sufficiently informed to understand the extent ofthe problem compared to 50% of those over 35 (P=0.007). About 80% of young professionals were adequatelyinformed and two thirds (63%) were informed about procedures/recommendations to be followed during thepandemic. However, in professionals over 35, only 56% declared they had the right information and over 65% didnot feel adequately trained (P= <0.01). Furthermore, 44% of those over 35 felt not sufficiently prepared for themanagement of the cancer patient during an epidemic compared to only 28% of those under 35 (P=0.015). Conclusion: The survey showed a different perception of information and training of health care professionalsbased on the age group. This could be determined by a different degree of task and responsibility but also by thegreater and faster readiness of the younger operators to acquire new information and to draw on a renewed abilityto face an emergency by reorganizing themselves quickly and actively.

COVID-19 pandemic: Patients'perspective during cancer treatment

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has been declared a global pandemic, and Italyis one of the first and most heavily affected countries. Cancer patients are a population at higher risk from COVID-19 both for intrinsic fragility bound to their underlying disease and oncologic treatment delay. The aim of our survey was to investigate how cancer patients perceived their health condition, their clinical management, and informationcommunication by their medical oncologists during the pandemic. Methods: Between 15th April and 1st May, 2020, a survey was submitted to cancer patients under treatment athospitals of Marche Region that had been invested by the pandemic. It consisted of questions regarding theperception of personal safety, continuity of cancer care, and information quality provided by the OncologyDepartment and individual psychological distress. Results: A total of 661 patients participated in the survey;60.2% were female and 40.4% were aged between 46and 65. Almost all of the attendees (97.7%) stated that the Oncologic Department complied with the appropriatesafety standards, and 78% were reassured about their concerns during the medical interview, but 41% were worriedof being at higher risk of infection upon entry into the Oncology Department and 53.3% felt at greater risk of infectionbecause of chemotherapy treatment in general. The majority of the participants (62.2%) felt that postponing cancertreatment could reduce its efficacy;however, 80% declared they did not feel abandoned at the time of treatmentdelay. 79.4% of the attendees felt more worried for their underlying disease in this emergency situation, but themood worsened for only 34.2% of the participants. Conclusions: Our survey reveals that Oncology Departments have been considered worthy of the emergency interms of safety standards and care management by cancer patients. However, the majority of attendees perceivedthe mutual negative influence between their underlying oncologic disease and risk of Sars-CoV-2 infection andmanifested concerns about their health condition, highlighting the need for special measures to ensure safecontinuity of care.

Telemedicine as a concrete response to covids-19 pandemic

With a pandemic such as the one caused by COVID - 19, health systems all over the world need to find a functional and decisive strategy as soon as possible. The virtualization of therapeutic and care approaches, the so-called "telemedicine", can represent a fundamental tool to ensure a direct real life-like meeting between patients and health workers thus reducing the spread of the infection. The poor interconnection between telemedicine services operating at different levels, the lack of a real multidimensional approach to the patient care, the management of privacy, the lack of clear regulations and guidelines, hamper the implementation of effective remote medicine solutions for pandemic management and full implementation of an integrated telemedicine system. The COVID-1 9 pandemic is expected to help promote heller use and integration of these new resources into the paraphernalia of health services. Telemedicine should strongly no longer be considered as an option or an additional component to react to an emergency but it has t o become an integral part of a national health system equipped to face Jul ure pandemics such as the one in progress. © 2020 Giuffre Editore SpA. All rights reserved.

Detection of SARS-COV-2 receptor ACE-2 mRNA in thyroid cells: a clue for COVID-19-related subacute thyroiditis.

PURPOSE: SARS-COV-2 is a pathogenic agent belonging to the coronavirus family, responsible for the current global world pandemic. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) is the receptor for cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2. ACE-2 is a type I transmembrane metallo-carboxypeptidase involved in the Renin-Angiotensin pathway. By analyzing two independent databases, ACE-2 was identified in several human tissues including the thyroid. Although some cases of COVID-19-related subacute thyroiditis were recently described, direct proof for the expression of the ACE-2 mRNA in thyroid cells is still lacking. Aim of the present study was to investigate by RT-PCR whether the mRNA encoding for ACE-2 is present in human thyroid cells. METHODS: RT-PCR was performed on in vitro ex vivo study on thyroid tissue samples (15 patients undergoing thyroidectomy for benign thyroid nodules) and primary thyroid cell cultures. RESULTS: The ACE-2 mRNA was detected in all surgical thyroid tissue samples (n = 15). Compared with two reporter genes (GAPDH: 0.052 ± 0.0026 Cycles-1; ß-actin: 0.044 ± 0.0025 Cycles-1; ACE-2: 0.035 ± 0.0024 Cycles-1), the mean level of transcript expression for ACE-2 mRNA was abundant. The expression of ACE-2 mRNA in follicular cells was confirmed by analyzing primary cultures of thyroid cells, which expressed the ACE-2 mRNA at levels similar to tissues. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study demonstrate that the mRNA encoding for the ACE-2 receptor is expressed in thyroid follicular cells, making them a potential target for SARS-COV-2 entry. Future clinical studies in patients with COVID-19 will be required for increase our understanding of the thyroid repercussions of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Training and information during COVID-19 pandemic: The masterpiece in young oncologists

Background: COVID-19 pandemic was a health emergency that required a rapid response by the Italian National Health System. Healthcare professionals needed to be properly trained and informed about their patients' procedures and proper management. During an emergency, the information must be exhaustive, clear and timely to allow correct diagnostic and therapeutic continuity. It is also important that all health workers are promptly and homogeneously trained to guarantee the best treatment path even during pandemic. Our survey aimed to investigate the level of information and training of health workers in oncology during the pandemic and, in particular, the difference in perception between under and over 35 years operators. Methods: An on-line multiple choices survey was submitted to oncology health workers during the pandemic to investigate individual perception of resources, information and staff training management by hospital centers. No open questions were included. Results: A total of 383 health workers replied to the survey (116 under 35 years versus 267 over 35 years). In the under 35s group a total of 65% declared they had been timely and sufficiently informed to understand the extent of the problem compared to 50% of over 35 (p=0.007). About 80% of young professionals were adequately informed and two thirds (63%) was formed about procedures/recommendations to be followed during the pandemic. But in professionals over 35 only 56% declared to have the right information and over 65% did not feel adequately trained (p= <0.01). Furthermore, 44% of over 35 felt not sufficiently prepared for the management of the cancer patient during an epidemic compared to only 28% of the under 35 (p=0.015). Conclusions: The survey showed a different perception of information and training of healthcare professionals based on the age group. This could be determined by a different degree of task and responsibility but also by the greater and faster readiness of the younger operators to acquire new information and to draw a renewed ability to face an emergency by reorganizing themselves quickly and actively. Legal entity responsible for the study: Università Politecnica delle Marche - AOU Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona. Funding: Has not received any funding. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

COVID-19 pandemic: Patients’ perspective during cancer treatment

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has been declared global pandemic and Italy is one of the first and heavily affected countries. Cancer patients are a population at higher risk from COVID-19 both for intrinsic fragility bound to their underlying disease and oncologic treatment delay. Aim of our survey was to investigate how cancer patients perceived their health condition, their clinical management and information communication by their medical oncologists during the pandemic. Methods: Between 15th April and 1st May 2020 a survey was submitted to cancer patients under treatment at hospitals of Marche Region which had been invested by the pandemic. It consisted of questions regarding the perception of personal safety, continuity of cancer care and information quality provided by the Oncology Department and individual psychological distress. Results: A total of 661 patients participated in the survey;60.2% was female and 40.4% was aged between 46 and 65. Almost all of the attendees (97.7%) stated that the Oncologic Department complied with the appropriate safety standards and 78% was reassured about their concerns during the medical interview, but 41% was worried of being at higher risk of infection upon entry into the Oncology Department and 53.3% felt being at greater risk of infection because of chemotherapy treatment in general. The majority of the participants (62.2%) felt that postponing cancer treatment could reduce its efficacy, however 80% declared they did not feel abandoned at the time of treatment delay. 79.4% of the attendees felt more worried for their underlying disease in this emergency situation, but the mood worsened only for 34.2% of the participants. Conclusions: Our survey reveals that Oncology Departments have been considered worthy of the emergency in terms of safety standards and care management by cancer patients. However, the majority of attendees perceived the mutual negative influence between their underlying oncologic disease and risk of Sars-CoV-2 infection and manifested concerns about their health condition highlighting the need for special measures to ensure safe continuity of care. Legal entity responsible for the study: Università Politecnica delle Marche- AOU Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona. Funding: Has not received any funding. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.