Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in women in France, with 12,000 deaths per year. And yet the disease is getting better and better. To understand the relationship the French have with breast cancer, Institut Curie conducted a survey with ViaVoice on a sample of just over 1,000 people. A certain lack of knowledge emerges, as much about the risk factors as about the management or scientific advances.
Is breast cancer correctly detected? Well cared for in France nowadays? The French are positive on these issues. Nine in ten people believe that breast cancer is detected better and better and eight in ten think that it is cured better and better. As for the quality of life with the disease, 63% think that we live better than before with breast cancer. That said, they still lack information … On the issue of the cure rate, for example, which they vastly underestimate. According to the survey, it is 63%, while in reality, it is 87% at 5 years, and 76% 10 years after illness.
Breast cancer cure ingredients remain unclear for the French
If the cure rate is underestimated, it is partly because the levers of this cure are not well known by all … Of course, the type of cancer and the stage at which it is taken are decisive (that, the French guessed). Corn morale is also very important, and relatively little cited by respondents (29%) : “We know that people in psychological distress have a harder time adhering to treatment, To communicate with caregivers and more often have a poor lifestyle“, recalls Doctor Sylvie Dolbeault, psychiatrist, head of the psycho-oncology department at Institut Curie.
When we ask the French what is most important to cure it, they are only 22% to cite innovative treatments. However, the latter are essential to increase cure rates. Two other criteria should be mentioned: the previous state of health, which partly determines the ability to survive cancer, and the hygiene of life, but they are reaching the end of their life. list of items cited. Gold, regular physical activity and a balanced diet would reduce the risk of relapses by 50%, recalls Institut Curie.
A lack of information on screening, numbers that are affected
The French deplore an insufficient level of information on screening. It would only be well identified and understood by 26% of them … Only 31% of the women questioned are very well informed about the screening. Moreover, in the 50-74 age group, organized screening is still only followed by 50% of women. Even though he offered these French women a clinical breast examination and a mammogram with double reading.
In breast cancer, the impact on daily life worries many
Another stake of this 2020 barometer of the Institut Curie: to identify the concerns of the French in matters of breast cancer. It turns out that the disease itself is not the only source of concern. Thereby, 31% of French people worry about the question of the gaze of the other, are afraid of being isolated, or of seeing their family organization undermined. The undesirable effects and the changes on the body due to breast cancer are cited in second place of the anxieties of the French women. Finally, it is the loss of morale and the feeling of femininity that preoccupies the idea of ever having breast cancer.
That said, 73% of those polled believe that patient support has improved over the past 5 years. And about that, they are quite right, according to Institut Curie, which offers support that goes beyond medical care. With the aim of not considering the person only as a “sick organ”, the Institute has set up a multidisciplinary course made up of a psychological support, social support, socio-aesthetic care, hypnosis, relaxation, sophrology, yoga or even acupuncture.
What about medical advancements?
The French are confident: they are between 77% and 80% to consider that the progress made is important. Is right ! But a not insignificant part of breast cancer remains difficult to control. Fatima Mechta-Grigoriou, biologist, Inserm research director and head of the Stress and cancer team at Institut Curie explains: “research efforts focus on questions relating to metastases, the role of the immune system and the tumor environment, and understanding the mechanisms involved in aggressive tumors, Like the negative triple cancers which represent 15% of breast cancers and affect rather young women“. Of many clinical trials are underway to continue advancing on the control of the different types of breast cancer, including at the Institut Curie.
A few figures on breast cancer in France:
- Every year 59,000 women are diagnosed with it
- Middle age of women diagnosed in 2019 is 63 years old
- 80% of breast cancers are detected in women over 50
- The survival rate is 87% at 5 years, 76% 10 years later
- Breast cancer is multifactorial : family history (genetics: BRCA1 and 2), lifestyle (smoking, alcohol, overweight, type 2 diabetes, endocrine disruptors, chemicals, ionizing radiation, night work … .) and hormonal status (early puberty, late menopause, childbirth at an advanced age, hormonal treatment).
- Breast cancer can develop in various places : in the lobules (which produce milk) or in the ducts which bring it there.
- Breast cancer may not cause any symptoms: be careful with a lump in the breast, an abnormal change (swelling, discharge, skin change).
Also read:
- Covid-19 and breast cancer: continue treatment, get tested
- One year after breast cancer, one in six women stop treatment for risk of relapse
- Breast self-palpation: a free application to learn
- Artificial intelligence designed by Google could help diagnose breast cancer
- Breast implants do not prevent detection of breast cancer
