The former President of the Republic is committed to the benefit of the fight against childhood cancer by becoming a sponsor of the campaign “Cure childhood cancer in the 21st century”, intended to raise ten million euros for the Gustave Roussy Institute. Gilles Vallas, pediatric oncologist at IGR answered our questions.
“My commitment is neither political nor partisan”. Nicolas Sarkozy is committed to children with cancer. The former head of state becomes the campaign sponsor “Cure childhood cancer at 21e century“piloted by Frédéric Lemos, father of a little boy swept away by the disease. Together, they hope to collect ten million euros by 2020 to donate them to the Gustave Roussy Institute.” This is the nerve of the war to advance research, “he told the Parisian . Tuesday evening, Nicolas Sarkozy attended an auction to benefit research against childhood cancer. A commitment that he intends to assume with dedication alongside his wife Carla Bruni. “I will get involved personally and encourage my friends, my networks to do the same. My commitment will be total and without limit. I will integrate myself into a team, I will do what I am told to do, will go where we have need me to mobilize energies. I will not be a passive sponsor “.
“Cancer transcends political divisions”
As Prof. Gilles Vassal, Oncolong Pediatrician at the Gustave Roussy Institute explains, three types of cancer are recurrent in children: leukemia, brain tumor and lymphoma. 350 new children are admitted to this hospital each year.
“Thanks to the therapeutic progress of the last 50 years, 80% of children diagnosed with cancer are alive without disease by 5 years, that is to say 3 children out of 4. But at the cost of heavy treatments which can lead to cardiovascular sequelae, neuropsychological and endocrine complications “, explains the professor, who recalls that the quality of healing is an axis that doctors must develop. Is the research progressing? “It is moving forward, but we want them to move faster because if 80% of children recover, one in five children will die of it. That is to say 500 children and adolescents in France each year and 6000 in Europe”.
In children, cancer can start from birth. “It is the leading cause of death from illness in children.” Many new treatments have been developed for adults, explains Professor Gilles Vassal, but still too few for children. “What we want is to balance research so that children are not left behind. We must mobilize because this is the opportunity to heal more and to heal better. Cancer is neither right or left, it transcends political divisions “.
The four IGR projects
In France, 1 in 440 children will have cancer before the age of 15, recalls the IGR in its campaign. 2,500 children and adolescents are affected each year in France. 20% of them cannot be cured at present. Their only recourse is the progress of research. The Institute puts forward four objectives. The first is to develop immunotherapy, a treatment that aims to administer substances to stimulate the body’s immune defenses in order to fight against different diseases.
The second objective of the IGR concerns genetics: “to understand why some children develop cancer and to identify the genetic predispositions which are responsible”. The third axis consists of “improving the quality of healing in children and adolescents in order to understand, detect and prevent complications late in adulthood”. And finally, the last point will be to “facilitate the course of care by developing new information and therapeutic education tools on interactive and digital supports”, as was the case for patients with breast cancer. .
Childhood cancer, this new issue
In December 2017, a new collective was born on the initiative of a pharmaceutical laboratory, with the support of Professors Gilles Vassal and Jean-Hughes Dalle, as well as two patient associations: that of the name of Laurette Fugain (animated by her mother Stéphanie), and “On est là”, an association created by a former “young” patient, Anne-Sophie Robineau.
Voices were raised on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Bristol-Myers-Squibb Immuno-Oncology Research Foundation: in particular that of the Inca through the voice of Dr Nathalie Hoog-Labouret, the pediatrician in charge of these questions at the Cancer Institute, the Ministry of Research, Dr Anne Paoletti, former of the Institut Curie. There remained politics… which with Dr. Michel Lauzzana, deputy of the majority, agreed to devote himself to lobbying in the National Assembly. Where he has already sent Prof. Agnès Buzyn an official request, to make childhood and youth cancer a great cause.
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