“We don’t know how many there are, but there are more of them.”
Any day in early autumn, Isabelle They found something strange on the mammogram. The following quarter, she underwent surgery and received twenty sessions of radiation therapy. For the next five years, he took oral medication until one day he was told he didn’t need to do anything else, just have an annual checkup.
It’s been seven years since she finished her medication and 12 years since she had surgery. He doesn’t have any physical consequences, he doesn’t even remember if he felt anything special after the last radiation therapy session, but he still thinks about cancer often, almost every day. “It’s never forgotten. When you go for reviews, you become a little more obsessed, but you always think about it. “I don’t really like talking about these things.”
Like Isabel, there are many people who beat cancer many years ago. These are the so-called centenarians, a very heterogeneous group, since some have consequences, others do not, but this determines their work, social or personal life, and for some, the luckiest ones, cancer is perhaps just a memory. But persistent.
We know how many tumors are diagnosed, how many are operated on, how many are treated, how many people die from cancer every year… but we do not know how many people survived this disease, and this is already part of the past.
“We don’t know how many centenarians are left in Spain,” he admits. Ruth Veraoncologist at the University Hospital of Navarra and coordinator of the working group on long-term survivors of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM).
“Usually it is estimated at two million, butwhy not 1.5 million, why not 3 million? We don’t have data, this is derived from incidence rates. There is no exact number, but we know that there are more and more of them.”
Key to explaining why this group of people is growing is the higher incidence of cancer due to longer life expectancies, as well as important advances such as early diagnosis and new treatments that have enabled the development of many tumors that were previously treated. no options chronic .
It is unknown exactly what kind of people make up this group, but according to Vera’s estimates, the vast majority are women who have overcome breast cancer and later colon cancer survivors.
This is clear at least from the first decade of operation of the long-term survivors’ care unit at the University Hospital Complex of Salamanca, one of the first to open in Spain.
More than 1,800 patients have passed through it, 70% of them are women, the average age is 72 years, the oncologist explained. Rosario Vidal during a workshop organized by SEOM on June 14. Of the total, 45% are breast cancer patients, followed by colorectal cancer.
Both tumors are widely diagnosed in our country, and screening programs are being implemented to detect the disease in the initial stages, when it is easier to treat and the likelihood of survival is high.
“The growing number of long-term survivors has created a need, which is why the European Cancer Plan highlights one of the four areas into which it is divided.”
Because they also have needs. On the one hand, the consequences left by the disease or treatment, such as pain, fatigue, lack of concentration, insomnia… This issue is the most targeted, although oncologists note a disconnect from primary care and call for the creation of protocols and communications. channels with family doctors.
“The patient often feels dizzy. Suddenly he stops seeing you every two or three weeks and day by day it ends and he has to carry on on his own which creates a certain amount of insecurity. , this dizziness of “what now?”
No need for positive lessons
The psychological aspect is also important at this stage and remains unattended. 20% of cancer survivors suffer from depression, and the stigma of the word “cancer” can permeate every area of a person’s life.
“Amnesia is very difficult,” he says. Martha Rubianespsychologist specialized in caring for cancer patients from Gepac, the Spanish Group for Cancer Patients.
“Many people think they should feel grateful or guilty because there are other people who have had it worse,” he notes. “There are also those who want to learn positive lessons. Well, that’s not necessary.”
One of the main concerns is work. Many people are unable to continue working while they are being treated, and when they return they feel out of place, have failed to reinvent themselves and, worse, may experience a certain amount of insensitivity from the company.
“Especially if you are diagnosed in your 40s or 50s, you will go back to a stage that is already challenging,” says Rubianes. “There are jobs where they don’t work very well, so you have to continue taking tests, examinations, going to consultations…”
Actually, Cancer patients are four times more likely to become unemployedcommented Clara Rosasmanager of the Catalan Federation of Cancer Organizations and member of the board of directors of the Association of European Cancer Leagues, during a seminar organized by SEOM.
“And often the end of temporary disability does not coincide with full reinstatement at work,” he noted.
Marta Rubianes summarizes the entire post-cancer process as if we were learning to ride a bicycle. “First they put training wheels on us, then they just held the saddle. Then they let us go, but we are afraid to fall. This is a difficult process, it takes time to return to life and rebuild. We’ll mix up all the pieces of the puzzle.” It takes time to get them back into place.