Cancer is a scourge which does not spare the population of Bouches-du-Rhône, nor that of Salon-de-Provence. The health report of the department reveals, moreover, a notable incidence of certain cancersnotably colorectal, one of the deadliest in France.
Prevention efforts are therefore essential to improve reduce mortality rates, as explained, a few days before the campaign “Pink October” which will be held October 12 on Morgan Square, the doctor Zoulikha teacherhead of the hematology oncology department at the Pays Salonais Hospital and president of thelocal Onco+ association.
1 in 2 men will develop prostate cancer!
“Ici, the most common cancers are those of the blood and digestive system (colon, stomach and pancreas)”, in 60% of cases detected. “Then come next, lung and breast cancersfollowed by those of the urological routes (prostate), kidneys and the ENT sphere (head, neck, thyroidlanguage). Unfortunately, our patients are sometimes very young: just 22 years old for one of them…”
Doctor Zoulikha Tadrist is the head of the oncology hematology department at Salon-de-Provence Hospital.
The socio-professional categories most represented among Dr. Tadrist’s patients being farmers and chemical industry personneltoo often suffering from blood cancers orasbestos-related conditions. “However, if screening is carried out at an early stage, the chances of recovery will be very favorable for most patients.”
It is therefore absolutely essential to participate in prevention actions. “Car, over the age of 50, one in eight women risk developing breast cancer. As for men… one in two could develop prostate cancerat the same age!” Worrying statistics which can be explained, according to this practitioner from Salon-de-Provence, by the omnipresence of chemicals in our daily environment.
“It may, of course, be endocrine disruptorspesticides, benzene, processed food, or even asbestos… But it goes without saying that we must not omit certain genetic predispositions, just like obesity and two ancestral risk factors: tobacco and alcohol.” The sum of all these risk factors presenting perverse cumulative effects on health.
€230,000 in donations to be collected to finance a mammograph
“Every Thursday, we host a Multidisciplinary Consultation Meeting (RCP) for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.” This RCP makes it possible to coordinate organ specialists, surgeons, oncologists, nuclear doctors, radiotherapists, biopathologists, etc. in order to guarantee the best patient care.
“We got an ARS certification to operateon Salon, digestive and breast cancers. And we treat virtually all chemotherapy patients.” Thus, from October 2023 to October 2024, these are 3,762 chemotherapy sessions intravenous injections in day hospitalization, all cancers combined, which were carried out in Salon-de-Provence. “Each of these chemotherapies costs around €15,000 ! A bill covered 100% by Social Securityin France, when, in the United States, patients go into debt all their lives…”
And 510 cancer patients in the region were monitored this year. “We also have partnership agreements with the Aix radiological center to carry out radiotherapy there, as well as with hospital centers in Marseille, when it is necessary to operate on other forms of cancer…”
Today, the Onco+ association and the Salon-de-Provence hospital are mobilizing to collect donationswith a view to financing the acquisition ofa mammograph for €230,000. A public health issue which will allow, tomorrow, the entire course of preventive care for breast cancer to be completed in a single day…
