Even in times of a pandemic, cancer continues to be rife, in the shadow of Covid-19.
Some 185,621 people died from it in 2020, out of the 667,400 deaths recorded from all causes.
This multifaceted malignant tumor, which is the leading cause of death in France in men and the second in women, is also diagnosed in more than 350,000 people each year.
"Today, cancer weighs heavily in France, on many families, it is by far the first disease and the most feared", summarizes Thierry Breton, director general of the National Cancer Institute (Inca), contacted by France 24. However, a significant proportion of these tumors could be eradicated in the event of a change in lifestyle or behavior: 40% of cancers, or 142,000 new diagnoses each year, are in fact linked to factors of avoidable risks - including tobacco and alcohol as a priority.
According to Thierry Breton, "we could reduce the burden of cancer tomorrow and ensure that there are less with more prevention".
The latter should also be a priority axis addressed by Emmanuel Macron, Thursday, February 4, during his presentation of the ten-year national strategy for the fight against cancer.
Screening campaigns that are not popular
France is, however, not a novice in the matter.
"We are currently working on a public health strategy for the general population", explains Suzette Delaloge, oncologist at the Gustave Roussy Institute, contacted by France 24. "This includes primary prevention, which is to prevent the occurrence of cancers, and secondary prevention, which consists of having early detection to prevent serious cancers ".
This mainly consists in encouraging people to "have a better hygiene of life", specifies the oncologist: smoking less, drinking less, doing more physical exercise or even eating five fruits and vegetables a day.
Secondary prevention is based on the three major screening programs in France: breast cancer, colorectal cancer and cancer of the cervix.
But this early detection is not acclaimed by the French.
"We are at a little less than 50% for the breast and around 35-37% for the colorectal and around 30-35% for the cervix", lists Suzette Delaloge.
These screenings, yet fully supported by Health Insurance, suffer from a lack of popularity, "in particular because the benefit / risk ratio felt at the individual level does not seem favorable for a certain number of people", explains the oncologist, "and because public health, even more in the current period, is seen globally as a constraint, an obligation, even a danger and not at all as an opportunity, which goes completely backwards."
Added to this is the health situation in which France has been living for a year with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first confinement, last March, resulted in "a total cessation of screening activities", according to Suzette Delaloge, with a resumption then from June and a rise in screening figures at the end of 2020.
New screening and early detection programs
The ten-year national cancer control strategy - which will "be based on a proposal from the Inca", according to the Élysée - should therefore prioritize the revitalization of the prevention strategy in France.
Thierry Breton confirms this orientation: "We must ensure that there is more participation in the screening of tomorrow, and that we also seek new forms of screening through a fundamental or technological research action".
In addition to breast, colorectal or cervical cancer, other national screening programs could emerge in the coming years.
Starting with that of lung cancer.
The screening technique, based on a scanner, "seems to show its effectiveness", specifies Thierry Breton.
"Maybe we will achieve this new screening program within two to four years," he said, adding also to base hopes for finding in the medium term a test to detect prostate cancer.
Another perspective in the fight against cancer could consist of early detection.
"About 30 to 40% of people developing cancer could have been identified as at increased risk in the years preceding their diagnosis," explains the Institut Gustave Roussy.
The latter launched, on January 29, the "Interception" program with the objective of identifying as early as possible people at increased risk of cancer - that is to say people who have a probability two to three times greater. on average to develop cancer, whether because of a hereditary predisposition or a strong exposure to toxic products like cigarettes.
"Early detection consists in finding a cancer before it reaches its clinical phase", summarizes Suzette Delaloge.
"The idea is to come up with the best possible strategy for each person to avoid developing serious cancer, and if that person ever does develop cancer, have it detected early and treated in a simple way."
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