Faced with cancer, children, adolescents and adults do not all have the same opportunities, nor the same rights. Indeed, a British study published by the journal The Lancet Oncology calls for widening the age groups for inclusion in clinical trials, reports Le Figaro. The researchers explain that the care in pediatrics stops historically after the 18 years of the patient. This barrier makes it difficult for cross-sectional therapeutic trials including age groups ranging, for example, from 13 to 22 years. No law prohibits it, but health agencies oppose it.
“This historical limit is not based on any scientific reality”, denounces Doctor Nicolas Blin, adult hematologist and pediatric oncologist at the Nantes University Hospital, quoted by Le Figaro. The authors of the British study also point out that “applying age as an eligibility criterion for a clinical trial for cancer seems, to some extent, to be irrational.”
Unequal chances of recovery
According to 2010 data from the National Institute of Health (Inserm), one in 440 children is likely to develop cancer before the age of 15. Although representing only 0.2% of cancer deaths in 2005, childhood cancers are the second leading cause of death between the ages of 1 and 14, after accidents.
Even though this disease is considered rare before adulthood, access to innovative treatments and research is not the same for children, adolescents and adults, thus influencing their chances of recovery and integration. after illness.