The regional health agency (ARS) of Pays-de-la-Loire, in Nantes.

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© Fabrice ELSNER

  • In view of the latest statistical data collected, the ARS and Public Health France refute the existence of an abnormally high number of childhood cancers in the vicinity of Sainte-Pazanne.

  • Epidemiological studies also conclude that there is no common explanation for these cancers in the sector, according to the ARS.

More than a year and a half after the revelation of a high number of pediatric cancers in the sector of Sainte-Pazanne, south-west of Nantes, the regional health agency (ARS) and Public Health France took stock , this Wednesday morning, on the various investigations carried out in recent months to understand what the problem is.

An epidemiological study and a comparison with the volume of pediatric cancers known in Loire-Atlantique between 2005 and 2018 were, in particular, recently carried out.

Main conclusion of the health authorities: "there is no singular situation of cancer frequency in the studied sector" with regard to the data collected in the whole of the department.

Clearly, there would be no more childhood cancers around Sainte-Pazanne than in the rest of Loire-Atlantique.

“There is no proven cluster,” confirms Jean-Jacques Coiplet, director of the ARS.

Backpedaling

The regional health agency nevertheless affirmed in November 2019 that the number of pediatric cancers in the Sainte-Pazanne sector was "higher than what is observed on average in France".

But, this result was at the time "statistically fragile", justifies the ARS today.

“We did not have all the up-to-date data from the Loire-Atlantique Cancer Registry.

And when you cross-reference all the information from the department, you get much more reliable results, ”she explains.

“This conclusion [absence of a proven cluster] has a reassuring side for the Ligériens.

But we obviously understand the difficulty for the families concerned.

Cancer affecting a child is always one too many cancer, ”adds Jean-Jacques Coiplet.

22 cases for the collective, 16 cases for the authorities

On the epidemiological aspect, the ARS and Public Health France reaffirm, after new analytical measures and “doubts” (housing, school, former industrial site, etc.) on the Sainte-Pazanne sector, that it does not 'was "not possible to identify a common cause that could explain the occurrence of pediatric cancers".

The authorities and the State services indicate, however, that they are maintaining “active monitoring” of the development of the situation.

According to the collective "Stop the cancers of our children", 22 cases of pediatric cancer were recorded between 2015 and 2020 within a radius of 15 km around the town of Sainte-Pazanne.

The ARS, for its part, retains only 16 cases, excluding certain too distant municipalities and subjects over the age of 18.

“Even taking the figure of 22 cases, that would not necessarily mean that there would be the presence of a statistical cluster since we would integrate new populations” in the calculation, specifies the ARS.

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  • Child

  • Cancer

  • Health

  • Nantes