World Cancer Day takes place this Wednesday, 4 February. This international campaign is aimed at informing and sensitising the general public, as well as health professionals, about cancer prevention, screening, and management.

In 2014, cancer may have killed nearly 170,500 people in France^[1]

According to a recent survey by Ipsos/French Foundation for Cancer Research^[2] cancer is the disease most feared by French people today (86%), ahead of Alzheimer’s disease (72%) and cardiovascular disease (49%). Only 27% of them know that 1 in 2 cancers is cured.

With their heavy involvement in research related to this disease, Inserm researchers are constantly called upon to find new strategies for prevention, diagnosis and treatment, making it possible, among other things, to reduce the incidence and gravity of the disease, and improve the quality of life for patients via more effective and less toxic treatments.

[1] Source: World Health Organization – Cancer Country Profiles 2014
[2] Survey carried out from 8 to 19 January 2015 on a representative sample of 1,004 French people aged 16 years and older. INSEE (French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) method of quotas: sex, age, profession of the reference person for the household, region and size of town/city.