According to a survey, only 29% of French people have ever heard of cancers of the Superior Aero-Digestive Pathways (VADS) and know precisely what it is.
Pain in the throat, difficulty swallowing, hoarseness, ear pain, lump in the neck, nosebleed … These symptoms are not to be taken lightly if they persist beyond 3 weeks. They can hide cancer of the Upper Aero-Digestive Tract (VADS). With 14,838 new cases in 2012, in France, VADS cancers ranked 8th among the most frequent cancers, all sexes combined, and 5th among men.
Within the framework of the 3rd European week of the campaign “Take cancer in the throat” which begins soon, the results of the Ifop / Merck Serono survey (1) published on Monday reveal, however, that the French do not know them well.
24% have never heard of it
Only 29% of those questioned say they know precisely these cancers, while 47% say they have heard of them without knowing exactly what it is. A quarter of those polled have simply never heard of it. “VADS cancers are little known to the general public because some patients have had symptoms for more than 3 weeks, or even several months and do not consult”, explains in a press release Professor Béatrix Barry, Head of the ENT oncology surgery department. of the Bichat hospital, in Paris and President of the French Society of Cervico-Facial Carcinology (SFCCF).
And it is precisely over time that the French are starting to be wary of these lasting symptoms. 72% of them would go see a doctor if these symptoms last more than 3 weeks.
Known risk factors
Finally, good news to complete this survey, the risk factors are well known to the French, since 76% declare that the combination of tobacco and alcohol constitutes a very important risk factor for cancers of the mouth and throat (98 % consider it an important risk factor), against 78% for the lung, 73% for cardiovascular disease and 54% for brain damage.
“I was a very heavy smoker and we know deep down that smoking carries risks, both in the lungs and in the larynx. We tend to think that cancer only happens to others, but we are wrong, ”testifies in a press release Philippe Grousseaux, patient with laryngeal cancer. “Quitting smoking when the diagnosis is made is already too late,” he concludes.
A web and media campaign
Despite everything, these results confirm the importance of informing the general public, as well as general practitioners, about SADD cancers and their symptoms during the awareness week “Take cancer in the throat”, organized by the French Society of Cervico-Facial Carcinology (SFCCF) in partnership with Merck Serono, and relayed in 70 hospitals and clinics in France, on the web and the media.
Organized from September 21 to 25, it will revolve around a webTV http://www.webtv-cancerorl.fr/ where there are testimonials, videos from experts and patients, as well as documents of information. The entire campaign is relayed on the web and in the media, as well as in doctors’ offices, pharmacies and hospitals where information, prevention and screening stands will be held.
(1) Ifop / Merck Serono survey carried out on a sample of 990 people aged 18 and over by self-administered questionnaire, from July 7 to 9, 2015
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