In France, a third of the repercussions of head and neck cancer are ignored. Late diagnoses and patient fragility are factors that are often overlooked.
Head and neck cancers are still unrecognized. However, they are not rare: between 2008 and 2012, 132,000 patients were diagnosed in France. But their weight is often underestimated, deplore two studies presented at the Annual Congress of the European Society for Molecular Oncology (ESMO), which is held in Copenhagen (Denmark) from October 7 to 11. The accompanying illnesses are not taken into account, and the data often omits this cause of death. As a result, 38% of the repercussions of the disease are not listed.
Survival from head and neck cancer is particularly poor. After 5 years, only 34% of patients are still alive. The statistics could be even worse, according to the results of this work. Today, these tumors are often omitted from death certificates. At issue: the many comorbidities that occur in these patients. Indeed, the main risk factors are smoking and excess alcohol. Two behaviors that promote chronic pathologies. Thus, in one in two cases, a hospitalized patient presents another tumor. When he dies, doctors therefore favor other causes: another disease, cancer on another organ, etc.
Late diagnoses
There is a real gap between reality and official figures. They claim that the incidence of these cancers is declining because the two major risk factors are better controlled. Mortality continues to increase, say the authors of this study.
This poor result is probably related to the fact that diagnoses are often late, which greatly reduces the chances of survival. Those posed at an advanced stage represent 57% of the declarations. However, the risk of death is then multiplied by six. The prognosis is equally poor for patients with distant metastases (12%).
For Pr Sandrine Faivre, oncologist at Paris Nord Val de Seine University Hospitals, these results should lead to a change in practices. “We should remember that these patients are fragile,” she told the congress. they present multiple comorbidities, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the toxicity of treatments. They are also exposed to recurrence: 31% of patients relapsed during follow-up.
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