2024-02-20 13:00:13
In 2003, France resolutely embarked on the fight against cancer thanks to the first Cancer plan. For the first time, a country put in place a global plan to combat a disease; it was then a major turning point in public health policies.
Twenty years later, there have been numerous advances that have redefined the realities associated with cancer. The arrival of major therapeutic innovations (immunotherapies, targeted therapies, conjugated antibodies, etc.) has made it possible to significantly improve patient care and prognosis. In lung cancer, for example, considered to have a poor prognosis, the two-year survival of patients followed in hospital has been doubled in twenty years (KBP 2020 study). At the same time, organizational innovations and supportive care have offered patients new opportunities for quality of life.
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The face of illness is changing. For patients, these new perspectives bring real hope for life: the incurability often associated with cancer gives way to the possibility of chronicization, or even a cure. We have entered a new era in the fight against the disease of the century.
Today, France must consolidate its lead in the fight against cancer, which remains the leading cause of mortality in our country – 160,000 patients still die from it each year, and the incidence rate has doubled since 1990. In 2018, nearly four million French people were diagnosed with cancer. It is also estimated that one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer before the age of 85. We are all affected by these illnesses, as patients, relatives or caregivers.
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This is why the French federation of Unicancer cancer centers, the Patients en network association and the MSD laboratory are launching the Face au(x) cancer(s) collective, which intends to contribute to changing the way we look at the disease and to adapt the public policies and practices of tomorrow. Even as the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that cancer cases could increase by around 77% worldwide by 2050, this collaborative effort is all the more necessary to provide upstream recommendations. of the 2025 milestone of the ten-year strategy to combat cancer.
Preserve patients’ access to employment
Today we have two major challenges to face.
First of all, prolong and improve the quality of life of cancer patients, by taking better account of their experience in the design of care pathways and above all by improving their integration within society, an aspect that is sometimes overlooked. and yet central to the quality of care. The prospect of chronicization of certain cancers thanks to therapeutic progress in recent years now offers new horizons for patients. However, patients struggle to maintain a “normal” life: thus, 20% of 18-54 year olds who were employed at the time of their cancer diagnosis no longer work five years later. Let us ensure that patients who wish to do so can preserve their access to employment, by including the recognition of patient status opening specific professional and social rights on the social agenda.
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