2023-12-09 07:29:00
Today, Géraldine Zamansky, journalist for Health Magazine on France 5, tells us about astonishing research against cancer, which tested the suppression of a treatment. The researchers’ results have just been published in The Lancet.
franceinfo: Is it serious? An Australian team evaluated the treatment of certain “small” cancers without radiotherapy?
Géraldine Zamansky : This is extremely serious. Their results published in the prestigious journal The Lancet were even praised by the editorial. Because here we are, at the heart of one of the little-known avenues of cancer research: “de-escalation”. That is to say, to overcome this disease, doctors first added as many weapons as possible, with treatments that were often difficult to tolerate. From now on, it is possible to know if a cancer is more or less threatening, and to adapt the arsenal mobilized.
So it was in the face of cancers identified as not very dangerous that these Australian doctors dared to eliminate radiotherapy?
Exactly. Let us be clear that these were only cancers diagnosed at a very early stage. Usually, the surgery is then supplemented by radiotherapy, to destroy any invisible cells that may be disseminated in the breast.
The Australian team proposed to 201 women to avoid this stage, according to extremely strict selection criteria. In very simplified terms, their tumor had to be unique – with MRI control – small (less than 2 cm) and not very aggressive. (Especially not breast cancer called “triple negatives”, which you may have heard of).
And was the risk really controlled? There weren’t more recurrences than with radiotherapy?
After five years, the recidivism rate was only 1%. That is to say lower than that of the group with radiotherapy, 1.7% but which was, by definition, more at risk.
This good result confirms previous studies, according to Dr Guillaume Louvel, radiotherapist at the large Gustave Roussy cancer center, in the Paris region. He himself is also participating in a trial where, according to other selection criteria, certain patients do not need his irradiation treatment.
Really, in France too, “de-escalation” is underway?
Quite. The hope, as Dr Louvel explained to me, is to increase this type of research. And soon be able to, I quote, _”_propose serenely” to a group of well-identified patients, to avoid radiotherapy and its side effects. By maintaining maximum safety against cancer.
And he told me that today, some patients prefer this security, and refuse to participate in the study without radiotherapy. It must be said that this treatment has improved in recent years, reducing its risks of toxicity. Yes, fortunately, there is a lot of progress in the fight against cancer!
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