At 12, Michael Bowen was treated at the Institut Curie for bone cancer. Now 21 years old, the young man is back in this care and research structure in Paris to face this disease again, but on the other side of the mirror. He joined a state-of-the-art laboratory for a research internship on Ewing’s sarcoma, the same tumor that struck him. “It was this disease that pushed me towards biology, explains the bachelor student. The idea that my work can help children who are going through the same ordeal does me a lot of good. »
At the Institut Curie, on December 7, we shuttled between the research unit of Olivier Delattre, pediatrician and researcher, and the care unit headed by Daniel Orbach, oncopediatrician. “Here, research and care activities are closely associated, synergies are created”, rejoices the first. The day before, another source of pride, he received the Grand Prix from the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm), in recognition of the significant discoveries that have marked his research career.
To go from his laboratory to the care unit, you have to cross a maze of corridors and stairs. A blinking Christmas tree, a waiting child’s bed: here we are.
At the end of a corridor decorated with sea creatures, here is Noa’s room (the first name has been changed). Round face and smooth skull, the 7 and a half year old girl has her nose bent over her tablet. When asked why she is here, she shows her belly: “I have a boo there. » In reality, the little one is suffering from kidney cancer, a nephroblastoma. “Our life changed when this cancer was discovered, she was 3 years old. Last June, he did it again”, said the mother. Noa’s classic treatment protocol combines surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments. “Nephroblastoma is a cancer with a good prognosis, today 90% of children are cured, says Daniel Orbach. At the end of the 1960s, it was less than 30%. »
Although the cancers of young patients remain fortunately rare (they represent 1% of all), they nevertheless affect nearly 2,200 children and adolescents each year in France. At Curie, more than 300 new children, teenagers and young adults are treated each year for a solid tumor or lymphoma. The median age of patients is 5 years.
Orphan diseases
Among them, 180 young people are taking part in a therapeutic trial or a clinical study. “Many childhood cancers are orphan diseases, too rare to be of interest to manufacturers”, regrets Daniel Orbach, while emphasizing recent positive developments in this regard. Since 2015, the Institut Curie has been certified by the National Cancer Institute as a “paediatric early phase clinical trial center”, under the direction of Professor François Doz. As a result, for cancers without approved treatment, doctors can offer patients new promising molecules, the efficacy and safety of which have not yet been proven.
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