At the start of Pink October 2023, “screening and prevention are essential”, recalls cancerologist Anne Vincent-Salomon on franceinfo.
Sunday October 1 marks the start of Pink October 2023, which raises awareness about breast cancer. On franceinfo, Dr Anne Vincent-Salomon, oncologist, head of the Pathology department and the Diagnostic and Theranostic Medicine center at the Curie Institute, also director of the IHU Women’s Cancers, takes stock of the fight against the disease .
Franceinfo: The keyword coBetween cancers like breast cancer, is it prevention?
Dr Anne Vincent-Salomon: Screenings, such as mammograms, but also prevention, are very important. Also have a healthy lifestyle: for example, it is estimated that 8,000 breast cancers could be avoided each year by reducing alcohol consumption, limiting it to less than seven drinks per week. However, the origin of breast cancer remains complicated to understand. We are working to adjust screenings, to improve techniques, but currently what we need to do is a mammogram, when invited.
Has the cure rate for breast cancer increased in recent years?
We must keep this in mind. We have an 87% survival rate at five years [ndlr : pourcentage de femmes vivant au moins cinq ans après la découverte du cancer] for breast cancer, so almost one in nine women. But it is true that there is not one breast cancer, but breast cancers. And when the disease becomes metastatic, when it spreads to other organs, survival can be much reduced.
All research efforts are trying to understand these mechanisms of metastasis development. There are also tremendous hopes for new treatments. Over the last two years, we have seen the emergence of effective treatments. There is also a kind of immunotherapy, with antibodies that target the tumor and provide chemotherapy. Immunotherapy is a tremendous advancement, and it’s only the beginning.
And then, we have a major project, at the Institut Curie: we really want to treat the patient we have in front of us in her individuality, taking into account her characteristics, her age for example, to best adjust the treatments.
Can we imagine a vaccine against breast cancer, like the Tedopi vaccine, which aims to treat certain lung cancers?
Quite. Trials are beginning around the world, which target a specific protein in the tumor. We hope that we will have success as great as what is happening with the lungs. So research must be supported!
Is artificial intelligence (AI) helping you in the fight against breast cancer?
Quite. It helps radiologists and pathologists with intelligent support tools to better interpret mammograms and scanners. These AI tools are currently under development. We were able to validate, at the Institut Curie, an algorithm which performs almost as well as the pathologist, so there are really good hopes.
In your opinion, can everyone really access this care?
That’s the big question. Reducing inequalities in access to care is also the subject of research. It is absolutely necessary to identify the socio-economic factors that can impact the prognosis of women with breast cancer, and to remedy them. This is research in human and social sciences, in health geography, to better understand and then find practical solutions.