“For blood cancers, we have to get used to living with the disease”: the Ellye association raises awareness at the Montpellier University Hospital

Yves Robert (en bas), Sylvie Massonnet (en haut à dr.) et l’équipe d’Ellye. ML – GR

At the Saint-Eloi University Hospital in Montpellier, volunteers from the Ellye association testify to the significant progress in care and their work with patients and their loved ones.

Blood cancers can be cured! Yves Robert is a good example. The regional coordinator of the Ellye association (Ensemble leukémie lymphomes espoir) was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2011.

“I had chemo sessions but I could only follow three out of six, it was really too hard”, he explains.

“For the second treatment, I was given a drug (imbruvica) that was being tested in a clinical trial. It did me a lot of good and is now commonly prescribed to patients. The treatment is very expensive but it is covered”. At 72, he now lives without treatment.

But he keeps a thought for his father, who "died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, at the age of 80, after a chemo session."

"Patients need to talk"

“In research, significant progress has been made over the last twenty years. Chemotherapy has been overshadowed by new treatments that are more effective and have fewer side effects.”

He conveys this message to patients – and their loved ones – affected by lymphomas, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Waldenström's disease.

Blood cancers, known as hematological cancers, affect 45,000 people in France. The month of September is dedicated to raising awareness about these little-known cancers.

“We are here first and foremost to inform and support patients”, he declared this Tuesday at the CHU Saint-Éloi, where Ellye volunteers were meeting patients and their companions. “Patients undergoing treatment need to talk, so we listen to them. We also represent examples of patients who have been cured, it does them good”.

Cancers Most Common in Young People

Caregivers, who often accompany their sick husband or wife, play a vital role. “They are told to protect themselves, because that is how they will be most useful”.

“Hematology is about finding the right balance between efficacy and toxicity, he emphasizes. And it varies for each patient. Lymphomas can be cured, but leukemia or Waldenström's disease cannot. This does not mean that we are in danger, but rather that we must get used to living with it. Since the immune system is more fragile, we must be very careful. We must also monitor secondary cancers (which affect another part of the body)."

"This cancer is the 5th most common for adults, and the first for adolescents and young people", concludes Yves Robert.

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