[The immigration of Italian patients to foreign countries. Analysis of the Gustave Roussy Institute series].
Most Italian patients who migrate to foreign countries to receive health care, choose France. The Gustave Roussy Institute (IGR) located in Villejuif, a town in the suburbs of Paris, is one of the most important center for cancer diagnosis and treatment in France. The aim of this issue has been to evaluate the admissions of Italian patients in terms of cause of admission, treatment and area of residence of the patients. We analysed the series of Italian patients admitted to IGR from 1988 to 1991; during that period 8159 Italian patients were hospitalized (2.8% younger than 15 years, 84.3% between 15 and 64 years and 12.9% older than 64 years). Most of those patients were resident in the South of Italy (more than 63%) and in particular they came from the region Sicily (27.4%) and Campania (18.8%). A different pattern seems to distinguish patients coming from the Center and the North of Italy from those from the South. In fact the aim of this migration was, for the former, a consultation on the therapy that they had, in large part, already undergone in Italy while the latter wanted to start their treatment there. The admissions related to the three most frequent cancers (breast, lung, lympho-hemopoietic system) have been analysed. The majority of patients were from the South of Italy. Breast cancer patients have migrated to the IGR looking for a post-surgical treatment while lung patients have been in large part treated for the first time at the IGR.