In 2012, the melanoma took away 1672 French. And according to a new study carried out jointly by the Syndicate of French Pathologists (SMPF), the National Syndicate of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV) and the Center de regroupement informatique et statistique en anatomie pathologique (CRISAP), it is in Brittany that this skin cancer is the deadliest.
Thus, in Brittany, 19.7 cases of melanoma per 100,000 inhabitants (20.6 for men, 18.9 for women) were recorded against only 14.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants (the national average) for the Var and the Alpes-Maritimes.
Several explanations for this phenomenon. On the one hand, even if Brittany is not exactly Tahiti, the UV rays (main culprits of melanoma) pass through clouds and water, regardless of temperature. In addition, Bretons generally have very fair skin (phototypes I and II), therefore a fertile ground for the development of skin cancer.
HA15, the new molecule
Melanoma is a cancer that is quite difficult to cure. While stages I and II of the disease can be treated with surgery, stage III and stage IV present much greater challenges. And the risk of recidivism is high: 2.8% after 5 years and 3.6% after 10 years in cases of first stage I or II melanoma.
Faced with this observation, two teams of French researchers from the Mediterranean Center for Molecular Medicine and the Nice Institute of Chemistry have developed a new “melanoma killer” molecule. Its name: HA15.
How it works ? By entering a cancer cell, this tiny killer manages to trigger several biological mechanisms of self-destruction (apoptosis and autophagocytosis). Result: the cancer cell dies. So far, HA15 has proven its worth in biopsies from Breton patients with melanoma and resistant to targeted therapies. Scientists are confident.
