a giant gray ribbon inaugurated at the Gui-de-Chauliac hospital

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And giant gray ribbonto raise public awareness of brain cancernow sits at the entrance to the CHU Gui-de-Chauliac which notably houses the head and neck neuroscience center. This is a first in France, an event, or rather a result highlighted during the inauguration of the sculpture on Wednesday morning.

Advancing medical research

“It is with immense pride that we are today installing this gray ribbon, once exposed in the city center, Place Paul Bec, in Antigone, to attract the curiosity of Montpellier residents and which returns to its natural location at the entrance to Gui-de-Chauliac”, recalled in the preamble Laëtitia Clabé-Lévèrepresident of the association of the stars in the seadedicated to the fight against glioblastoma, the most common aggressive form of brain cancer in adults.

No curative treatment

An association born in 2019, at the initiative of caregivers from University of Montpellier, and who has since led projects with the hospital, particularly in financial support for research and that for patients and their families. It must be said that the situation is dramatic: “there is no no curative treatment to treat glioblastoma”, recalls Laëtitia Clabé-Lévère: “This disease, which is the form the most aggressive of primary brain tumor, leaves little hope for patients.

€800,000 in donations donated

In 5 years, thanks to the mobilization of the association, more than €800,000 in donations were paid to several establishments carrying out research programs against the disease, including the Brain Institute in Paris for the Gliotex project, but also l’ICM et the Functional Genomics Institute of Montpellierin particular to support epidemiology research carried out in Montpellier by two recognized specialists, the neurosurgeon Luc Bauchet and Professor Valérie Rigau, head of the Pathology and Circulating Biomarkers in Cancerology department.

3,500 new cases per year

With the gray ribbon in front of the entrance to Gui-de-Chauliac, Stars in the Sea hopes to advance the care of patients in hospitals where there are censuses every year 3,500 new cases of glioblastoma, including children, for a survival expectancy of 15 to 17 months and a survival rate of 5% at five years. The treatment of this cancer remains particularly difficult due to four factors:
-The location of these tumors, which complicates surgery;
-The blood-brain barrier responsible for protecting the brain, which prevents effective penetration of anti-cancer drugs;
-The fragility of brain tissue and the bone barrier to radiotherapy;
-Infiltration and resistance of tumors to treatment.

Laëtitia Clabé-Lévère, the ambassador

With its president, the association has found an ambassador particularly committed to supporting research and developing care: Laëtitia Clabé-Lévère, IBODE health executive at the Montpellier University Hospital operating theater nursing school, lost her first husband to glioblastoma. She is known today for her extreme swimming exploits and was among the Montpellier bearers of the Olympic flame. After the heat of the flame, it is therefore this gray ribbon which is responsible for maintaining hope.

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