GHRMSA mobilized to detect breast cancer – M+

“The earlier it is detected, the better it can be treated and cured!” » This is the message hammered throughout Operation Pink October and relayed on the ground by GHR Mulhouse Sud Alsace and its partners. Report at the Women-Mother-Child Hospitalnt.

“Do you practice self-examination? It’s important, we show you. » “Don’t forget your regular check-ups with your doctor and gynecologist…” Nurses, doctors, health executives, volunteers… Everyone was on deck on Thursday, in the hall of the Women-Mother-Child Hospital of the GHR Mulhouse Sud Alsace , as part of the Pink October 2024 operation. An event which takes place throughout this month, through a rich program (read elsewhere), which aims to raise awareness of breast cancer screening.

61,200 new cases in France, per year

Because the figures are there: with 61,200 new cases in France per year, responsible for 12,146 annual deaths, breast cancer represents 33% of female cancers and remains the most common in women. However, according to the survey carried out by the League against Cancer among 1,000 women (with the Yougov institute): 1 in 2 women are unaware of the risks linked to breast cancer, i.e. 14.8 million women aged 18 or more. Hence the need to raise awareness: 88% of breast cancer patients are alive, five years after diagnosis.

“Prevention is essential. We are here to inform patients about breast cancer, the importance of self-examination, because we know that too few women practice it, and about screening. Only 50% of women undergo organized breast cancer screening for those aged 50-74, often because they are afraid of the result of the mammogram. However, we know that the earlier the cancer is caught, the greater the chances of cure,” explain Dr Anne-Sophie Gassmann and Audrey Marchand, gynecology nurse, at the Women-Mother-Child Hospital in Mulhouse, between two distribution of flyers and demonstrations of self-palpation of the chest on a bust. “Self-palpation is essential, including in young women, who are not in the targeted age group during mammography screening. »

“If I had examined myself, I would have detected my tumor well before”

Also mobilized this Thursday, Isabelle Debarge is a volunteer at the Vivre comme avant association, which supports and offers support to women confronted with breast cancer, from the diagnosis and then throughout their journey. “It’s important for me, who had breast cancer, to get involved. It is a way of giving after receiving. Pink October is important for the message it conveys in terms of screening and self-examination. If I had self-palpated myself, I would have detected my tumor well before, except that I did not know how to do it,” explains this lively sixty-year-old, who will begin, next week, her weekly visits, in the room, to patients operated on for cancer of the breast at the Woman-mother-child hospital, on stand-by since Covid. “Self-examination is essential, as are organized screening examinations. Pink October is a way of saying that women must take control of their bodies! », continues Christelle Fraudin, facilitator at the ERI (Meeting and information space for sick people, their families and loved ones), usually located at the Emile Muller hospital, another resource location.

“Don’t be afraid of being watched”

“This month reminds the general public of prevention in a ritual way, it is a booster shot” explains Dr. Marc Puygrenier, gynecologist and coordinating doctor of the GHRMSA Breast Clinic, who on this occasion hammers out messages of common sense, sometimes forgotten: “Consult your general practitioner and your gynecologist regularly, have your mammogram, do not be afraid to have yourself monitored, also before the age of 50 and after the age of 74. And self-examination is important when it comes to self-monitoring. We treat 250 breast cancers per year at GHRMSA and, as we observe nationally, their number is increasing. In 20 years, we have gone from one in 12 women affected by breast cancer to one in 8 women, an increase of 30%. If it does not prevent breast cancer, screening allows it to be treated earlier! »

350 tote bags for breast cancer patients

“Women must allow themselves to take care of their bodies,” continues Marie Corneille, deputy mayor responsible for the Promotion of all forms of equality, at the initiative – with Marc Puygrenier – of the tote delivery operation. -bags “Mulhouse au feminine”, which was also held on Thursday at the Women-Mother-Child Hospital as part of Pink October. In 2018, while accompanying the mothers of the students at the Koechlin school, who had made cushions for the benefit of breast cancer patients, we realized that they had nothing to store them. From now on, each year, with the City and the Haut-Rhin Cancer League, we give 350 tote bags to the GHRMSA medical team, in charge of giving them to patients after their operation, to place their intended cushion there. to improve their comfort and relieve their pain. »

“Look up”

To bring a note of poetry to the world of care, the GHRMSA has, for the first time, called on artists from the contemporary art center Le Séchoir. The result of four-handed work involving Sandrine Stahl and Delphine Gutron, the exhibition “Between Two Shores” is presented in ten paintings hung in the hall of the Woman-Mother-Child Hospital, throughout this pink month. “It’s our first participation, I’m doing it out of solidarity, it’s a subject that obviously affects us as women,” explains Sandrine Stahl, founder of Le Séchoir. We offer a trip to women who pass here. It’s important in medical settings to be able to look up and look elsewhere…”