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All cancers combined, the number of new cases has almost doubled in women and men between 1990 and 2023, according to Public Health France. Those under 50 are not spared. Students or in the prime of life, some are struck by illness and fight courageously to survive.
“Come on, we don’t give up! Never”… These few words accompany the photo of actress Emilie Dequenne, 42, on Instagram. We see the actress, César for best actress in a supporting role in 2021, smiling, with her head shaved. The talented artist is in complete remission from kidney cancer.
At the same age, the announcement of the cancer of the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, on March 22, shocked the whole world. Just as poignant, the news regularly given by the influencer Caroline Receveur, 36 years old, affected by aggressive breast cancer, or those of the BFM weather journalist, Virgilia Hess, 32 years old, suffering from breast cancer and pregnant, at the same time, with her first child.
A major phenomenon
The list of these young faces, affected by illness, is long, the endings not always happy. American singer Cat Janice died of sarcoma in February, journalist Clémentine Vergnaud, of bile duct cancer, in December 2023, both at the age of only 31.
The cases of these media people illustrate a widespread phenomenon. Between 1990 and 2023, the number of new cases of cancer doubled, with an increase of 98% in cancers in men and 104% in women, according to Public Health France.
The figure: 10 million
In 2020, cancers were responsible for 10 million deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The median age at diagnosis is 70 years for men and 68 years for women, according to the Public Health France article published on July 4, 2023.
In men, cancers of the prostate, lung and colon-rectum are the most common. In women, these are breast, colum-rectal and lung cancers.
“He changed my dreams”
According to the results of a large study published in the journal BMJ Oncology, the number of cancers per 100,000 inhabitants among those under 49 rose worldwide from 1.82 million in 1990 to 3.26 million in 2019, an increase of 79%. In 2019, more than a million people under the age of 50 died from cancer.
In the region, Charlotte El Moudden discovered she had breast cancer at 23, just before going on vacation, even though she was in great shape. “I felt a very hard lump in my right breast, like a stone”, tells the story of the one who is now cured and lives in Clapiers (34). About 15 days later, the young woman began chemo by catheter, had her head shaved, she who had hair down to her buttocks, for fear of losing her hair in handfuls, bought herself a blonde wig with bangs for that people “don’t see me as sick. I have never been sad, except at the thought of having to wait to have a baby”confides Charlotte, now mother of Esma, almost 2 years old.
“From the world of Care Bears to adult life”
“Cancer made me mature suddenly. I went from the world of Care Bears to adult life. I understood that we can leave overnight.” Ten years later, Charlotte is still afraid that the disease will return. Cancer changed her: “I’m enjoying life even more, I’ve traveled a lot, I take all my vacations. You never know what tomorrow will bring.”
Even younger, at 17, in the middle of his final year in Montpellier, Cyprien Mesulé discovered that he was suffering from osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, in his femur. “It was brutal. I was very sporty, I played a lot of rugby. I immediately stopped high school, I lost weight, my hair, my appetite… My life changed overnight. “
Having undergone knee surgery, Cyprien, now 24 years old, now wears a prosthesis, continued his studies successfully, despite recurrences, until joining a business school and doing an Erasmus in Germany. “It was difficult for me to gain perspective. The illness changed my dreams”confides the young man who does not want to forbid himself anything and continue to dream.
“Whatever the outcome”
At 42, the age of Kate Middleton, Guillaume Frasson-Groux learned that he had glioblastoma, a grade 4 brain cancer, after years of great fatigue. “We had never been able to put our finger on what I had. And then that evening in November 2023, in the shower, I felt that I was paralyzing on the left side, first in my arm then of the leg. I thought it was a stroke but the diagnosis came: a glioblastoma. Despite the severity, I felt relieved to finally know what I had.
“Surviving is more exhilarating than living”
Croupier in a casino, Guillaume, who lives alone in Saint-Jean-de-Vedas, has stopped working, continues to play sports, is undergoing treatment at the ICM. “I keep my spirits up. Life takes on a different flavor. I put a lot of things into perspective. Surviving is more exhilarating than living. My prognosis is not great, 15 months, even if I don’t take it literally”. In action, Guillaume confides “do your part of the job to have a clear conscience, whatever the outcome of the path”.
