Being able to take care of yourself in the Ardennes. This is the mantra repeated, rehashed, hammered out by Thomas Talec, the director of the Nord-Ardennes intercommunal hospital center, since he took up his post in 2021. This is obviously valid for breast cancer, the leading cancer among women. State of play of care in the Ardennes, with figures on the rise.
1-Breast and cervical cancers represent 25% of chemotherapy
In 2023, 1,453 chemotherapy sessions were provided for breast and cervical cancers at the Manchester Hospital site. This represents 25% of total sessionsall female cancers combined. The figures for 2024, as of July 31, show a increase of 22% the number of chemotherapies, with 933 sessions. The hospital does not have isolated data for breast cancer.
2-Mammograms in Fumay and Charleville, progress is being made
Mammograms are, along with self-palpation, the best screening tool for breast cancer. Their figure is increasing, which does not mean that the number of cancers is increasing. In 2023, 2,192 mammograms were carried out in Fumay and Charleville-Mézières. Against 1,734 in 2022. As of September 24, 2024, before Pink October, the figure was already 1,423. Walk-in consultations carried out by midwives, with live mammography, will be possible in Fumay on October 10, and on October 17 at the Manchester Hospital.
Doctor Jean Botokeky, head of the Ardennes cancer screening site, affirms that the Ardennes are lucky to “not have a shortage of radiologists. We are in a department where we can have appointments fairly quickly for mammograms. This is not the case everywhere in France. »
3-A modest number of surgical procedures, but also increasing
The number of breast cancer surgeries at Manchester Hospital is also increasing. 155 interventions in 2023, compared to 138 the previous year.
For the hospital management, “ all these increasing figures are the result of reorganizations started three years ago, recruitment in oncology, and the very good work of the surgical teams. »
