September plays an important role in raising awareness around cancers, with a month-long focus on both childhood cancer and blood cancer. It is an opportunity for Servier to highlight its commitment to the fight against these cancers, especially leukemia, to patients and their families.
Every year, Servier supports this international initiative led by a number of pediatric cancer organizations such as Childhood Cancer International Europe and the European Society for Pediatric Oncology.
“This September, we strongly support the causes of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Blood Cancer Awareness Month. In response to the growing need for therapeutic solutions, we have made oncology one of our top priorities. Thus, Servier dedicates 50% of its global R&D budget to researching cancer treatments.”
Childhood cancer
While rare, cancer in children is generally not possible to prevent and the majority of cases don’t have a known cause.1 The best outcomes depend on fast, early, and accurate diagnosis, efficient personalized therapy, and a strong support system.1
Blood cancers
There are more than 100 different types of blood cancers.
Leukemia is the 13th most common cancer in the world. Over 437 000 people are diagnosed with leukemia each year, and there are over 300 000 deaths caused by leukemia worldwide.2
It is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in children under 15 years old, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) the most common form. This rare bone marrow malignancy accounts for 80% of all childhood leukemia cases. The management of ALL has improved considerably in recent years and the event-free survival rates for 5 years or more is currently over 80% for children.
Raising awareness
In focusing attention on childhood and blood cancers throughout September, the following key aspects are highlighted: the importance of sharing knowledge of symptoms, the associated risk factors, the benefits of early detection, and a reminder to maintain doctor visits despite the current health crisis.
Servier currently invests a large part of its budget in oncology research and development, with the goal of improving management of patients with hematological malignancies, especially acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia.
In order to improve the chances of recovery for patients resistant to current treatments, new therapeutic approaches are needed and are currently undergoing clinical studies.
Key figures
Each year, around 400 000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 years old are diagnosed with cancer.1
The most common types of childhood cancers include leukemias, brain cancers, lymphomas, and solid tumors.2
Learn more about acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Learn more about Acute myeloid leukemia
1 – https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancer-in-children
2 – https://acuteleuk.org/project/awareness-campaign/?53