Cervix, ovary, stomach, mouth, larynx… These cancers are receding

De nouvelles thérapies et des dépistages précoces permettent cette amélioration. MAXPPP – Joel Le Gall

Several cancers are in sharp decline. Some have even seen their number of cases halved. 

While some cancers are progressing, others are in sharp decline, Le Parisien revealed this Sunday.

Starting with stomach cancers, which are increasingly rare. They have gone from 9,000 in 1980 to around 6,560 in 2018. "Over the course of my career, I have operated on fewer and fewer!" confirmed to the daily newspaper a retired Parisian digestive surgeon interviewed during a conference.

Other cancers are less and less detected, such as those of the esophagus, lip-mouth-pharynx and cervix, reveals a 2023 report from Public Health France. For the ENT tract, i.e. lip-mouth-pharynx, in men, for example, the rate went from 38.5 cases per 100,000 people in 1990 to 16.3 in 2018, Le Parisien specifies.

Cervical and ovarian cancers have halved in woman.

Early screening and new therapies

The widespread use of smears to collect cells and look for traces of the human papillomavirus (HPV) as well as better prevention have helped to reduce the number of cervical cancers. And the screening offered to all women over 25 has made it possible to detect precancerous cells.

As for ovarian cancers, the increased use of estrogen-progestin pills has made it possible to reduce the number of cases.

Not only is the number of cases decreasing, but these cancers are less fatal thanks to earlier treatment and new therapies.

On the other hand, pancreatic, breast and colon cancers have increased sharply in recent years and are increasingly affecting people under 50.