Émilie Dequenne suffers from adrenocorticoma, an “aggressive” and “super rare” cancer of the adrenal gland

HEALTH – “It turns out that, unfortunately, things are not progressing well. (…) I'm off again for the chemo that I went through a little over a year ago. » Eight months after announcing on his Instagram account that he was “in complete remission”Émilie Dequenne sees cancer coming back into her life again.

In a long interview given this Sunday 1^is December on the show Seven to Eight from TF1, the 43-year-old actress, revealed in Rosetta of the Dardenne brothers, returned to her fight against cancer “with the funny name”: a corticoadrenaloma.

A rare cancer and most often female

« Hyper rare » According to Émilie Dequenne, adrenocortical tumor is a tumor affecting 1 to 2 people per million inhabitants each year. According to the booklet established by the Gustave Roussy center on this type of cancer, it occurs most often in adults aged between 40 and 50, with a higher prevalence in women than in men. This tumor can also occur in children under 15 years old.

Adrenocortical carcinoma develops on the outer layer of one of the two adrenal glands, located above the kidneys. Called the adrenal cortex, this part of the gland secretes three types of hormones: glucocorticoids, which act on metabolism; mineralocorticoids, which regulate blood pressure; and finally the sex hormones.

Hormonal imbalance as the first symptom

Although adrenocorticaloma is associated with certain rare hereditary diseases, it occurs in the vast majority of patients without any cause or contributing factor having been clearly identified. It is often the clinical signs that point to this tumor, in particular a significant secretion of cortisol, which is called Cushing's syndrome, and which affects up to 10% of adrenocorticalomas.

Cushing's syndrome first manifests itself by significant weight gain and a change in appearance of the face and body, but also the appearance of bruising, muscle weakness, bone fragility, diabetes and high blood pressure. .

In certain cases, adrenocortical carcinoma can also lead to disruption of the production of sex hormones, the appearance of a mass in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting and abdominal or lower back pain. It is this symptom, associated with great fatigue, which put Émilie Dequenne on the trail of cancer. “Little by little, one thing leading to another, a nightmare begins. A weird blood test, a scan to take…”she explains.

Surgery and chemotherapy to treat the disease

According to the Adrenal Association, adrenocorticaloma is “an aggressive disease”, which can develop distant metastases (liver, lung, bone, etc.). Its management must therefore be the subject of several examinations upon diagnosis, first to determine whether the tumor has remained localized on the adrenal gland, or whether it has spread to neighboring organs, but also to know its degree. of malignancy.

The first phase of treatment for adrenocortical carcinoma is surgery, to remove cancer cells and limit their proliferation. It is associated with chemotherapy, particularly when not all the lesions can be removed. Radiotherapy, as well as other targeted treatments, may also be offered depending on the stage of the disease.

In any case, “we are talking about remission, not cure”specifies Émilie Dequenne in her interview given to Seven to Eight. Since this summer, the actress has had to face a recurrence of her cancer and is preparing to be again “every three weeks for five days in the hospital”and to lose his hair again.

“Deep down, I know I won't live as long as I expected. (…) I am only 43 years old. I have always dreamed of living to be at least 80 years old and falling asleep permanently in my sleep. That's what I'm asking.” continues Émilie Dequenne, who says she does “trust in medicine”. She now has one wish: that research to treat adrenocortical carcinoma “keep moving forward”.

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