Throughout March, Servier will be supporting the #ECCAM2022 (European Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month) campaign, also known as Blue March. This campaign, launched by the Digestive Cancer Patients Europe (DiCE) association, aims to improve colorectal cancer screening programs, as well as to reinforce information and increase awareness about this disease.
The ECCAM 2022 campaign aims to raise public awareness about the importance of prevention, early detection, and the signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer. As a partner of DiCE, and as a stakeholder involved in the fight against cancer, Servier supports Blue March.
Figures on colorectal cancer
It accounts for 12% of all cancer deaths in Europe, approximately 250,000 deaths per year (GLOBOCAN 2020)
1.93 million cases worldwide in 2020 (WHO)
The survival rate is 90%, provided that this cancer is detected and treated in time (INCa)
Learn more about colorectal cancer : read Insight
For several years, Servier has made oncology one of its priority areas. The Group now dedicates more than 50% of its R&D budget to the search for new cancer therapeutic solutions. The strategic collaboration with Celsius Therapeutics in December 2020, focused on identifying and validating new therapeutic targets for treating colorectal cancer, is a step in this direction. The Group also initiated three phase III clinical trials into metastatic colorectal cancer in several countries.
“Colorectal cancer – providing more dedicated treatments for more patients”: (re)read the interview with Dr. Nadia Caussé-Amellal, M.D, International Project Director at the Oncology and Immuno-Oncology Therapeutic Area (March 2021).
Patient engagement
At Servier, patients are at the heart of every decision-making process. The PROMETCO real-world study, developed in collaboration with a patient association, will enable accurate real-world data to be collected as of 2023 on the clinical management of colorectal cancer, in hopes of helping improve future practices, particularly in the performance and personalization of treatments.
Another Group initiative is the SHAPE program, which, in collaboration with DiCE, develops tools to improve the daily lives of patients who live with digestive cancer and their loved ones. Patients’ representatives and health care professionals participated in the process of developing several informational brochures:
MyFood
MyMood and MyDialogue
“At Servier, we are committed to involving patient associations in our projects, from creation to development. That is why we have been collaborating with DiCE for several years, a European organization that brings together more than 30 national patient organizations,” explains Stéphanie Chatin, Patient Relations Manager in oncology and hematology. “Alongside DiCE we identify the challenges that patients with gastrointestinal cancers face, and work with them and health care professionals on the best way to help them in overcoming these. Together, we are developing projects to improve patients’ quality of life and to support them, as well as their families, throughout their battle against the disease.”
Stéphanie Chatin, Patient Relations Manager in oncology and hematology