Bulletin du cancer
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Colorectal cancers have been the first cancers to benefit from an efficient anti-angiogenic treatment, represented by bevacizumab, which has been approved for first-line metastatic treatment in combination with reference chemotherapies and which is under study in the adjuvant setting. Other gastro-intestinal malignancies appear less responsive to anti-angiogenic therapy, but inhibitors of the VEGF receptors (sorafenib, sunitinib, axitinib) are in development with encouraging results. The safety profile of anti-angiogenic agents is quite different from that of classical chemotherapy and may require a modification of treatment strategies.
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In 2003, there was 147,000 deaths attributed to cancer in France, 88,000 in men and 59,000 in women. Cancer mortality rates have been decreasing since 1987 in the male population and since the late 60's in the female population, the decrease is larger for the male population. This decrease is observed for most sites of cancer at least in recent years, however lung and bladder cancer mortality are increasing in the female population, pancreatic and skin cancer mortality are increasing both for men and for women, and myeloma is more or less stable. Among children aged 0 to 14, the incidence of cancer is stable and the mortality is decreasing markedly, the decrease being largest for leukaemia and lymphoma because of chemotherapy.