Arthur Pereira, edited by Solène Delinger 06:12, February 04, 2022

Today is World Cancer Day.

19.3 million new cases would have been detected in 2020. A figure which could be multiplied by two by 2040. In question: the pandemic, responsible for the delay in screenings, which nevertheless remain the best way to fight against the development of forms serious, especially for breast cancer. 

REPORTING

For more than 20 years, February 4 has been dedicated to the fight against cancer.

In 2020, 19.3 million cases would have been detected.

This figure could be doubled by 2040 because of the pandemic, which has caused a delay in screenings.

Screening remains the best way to fight against the development of serious forms, especially for breast cancer.

Illustration in a radiology center dedicated to this pathology, in the fifth arrondissement of Paris.

“I was late in doing my exams”

At the exit of the locker room, Aurélie the paramedical assistant, guides her patient Véronique to the mammograph, where the fifty-year-old places her chest.

For six months, the Ile-de-France has been postponing her appointment for fear of catching the Covid.

"The laboratories were saturated. As a result, I did not do the exams and I delayed", confides Véronique on Europe 1. "But normally, I am quite vigilant. I try to really go there every year The Covid has blocked me a bit. It's a sword of Damocles, that's it. I have friends who died of breast cancer. It's still something quite anxiety-provoking in a woman's life".

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6,000 undiagnosed breast cancers in France

Like Véronique, patients who accumulate weeks or even months of delay.

Julia Arfi, radiologist, has more and more of them in her practice.

Valuable time lost in care and therefore a risk of additional complications.

"We see, as part of screening, more and more women who have breast cancer," she explains on Europe 1. "These cancers are bigger than those we saw in previous years, and it is due to this delay in diagnosis". 

Because of the pandemic, 6,000 breast cancers have not been diagnosed in France.

The medical profession can only recommend these screenings but in no case impose them.

It is up to the women themselves to take the lead.

In order to manage breast cancer as quickly as possible, screening every two years is recommended for women between the ages of 50 and 74.