Already, these tangible developments in care are observed on a daily basis by the associations which support Corsican patients with cancer. “ Thanks to the joining of forces, and the work of everyone, we are in the process of regaining trust. Before, after a cancer diagnosis, when people called me to ask me what to do, I systematically said: leave. Today, I say that patients have the capacity to be welcomed and well taken care of in Ajaccio », Testifies Catherine Riera, the president of La Marie-Do. “ A few years ago, oncologists intervened occasionally from Marseille. It was constantly changing. The patients were unable to create a bond of trust. However, when you are sick, you want to have the same doctor, week after week, who knows your file.“, she recalls, “ From now on, with five oncologists permanently established in Ajaccio, there is real monitoring, real knowledge of the files and a bond of trust that is created”. Essential stability, especially for the most complex situations. “ The oncology department fights until the end for its patients, including when it comes to finding clinical trials. They look for solutions and do not hesitate, when necessary, to refer to university hospitals with cutting-edge protocols, in a logic of increasingly personalized therapies. “, still insists the president of La Marie-Do. In this vein, one of the strengths of the cancer department at Ajaccio hospital is to have succeeded in establishing reinforced cooperation with major reference centers. “ We have set up a health cooperation group with the Paoli-Calmettes Institute and Gustave Roussy “, explains Dr. Berdah. “ This allows rapid exchanges, timely reinforcement of human resources, but also facilitated requests for second opinions. When a patient is referred from a cancer center, they are treated more quickly ».
A rise in power of the Ajaccian site
Furthermore, beyond treatments, emphasis is also placed on overall support for patients, thanks to a structured support care team. “ There is a team here that takes patients by the hand, both literally and figuratively. », describes the department head, “We offer reflexology, sophrology, and even psychological support. The fact that it is always the same team, working with the same patients, creates a very strong bond. And this team also travels to the home, which is not done everywhere “. Valuable support that the La Marie-Do association helps to put in place. “ We finance a socio-beautician and a reflexologist at Ajaccio hospital. And after the treatments, we offer speech-well-being workshops. Many patients tell us that once treatment is over, they feel like they have let go. These workshops allow us to recreate a framework, a link, in a caring environment,” she indicates.
Further afield, thanks to La Marie-Do, significant investments have been made in Corsican hospitals to improve patient care. Latest to date, the association has contributed 146,000 euros to the modernization of the anatomopathology department at the Miséricorde hospital, allowing the Ajaccian site to further increase its capacity. “ This is a very important investment, particularly for the standardization of levies », rejoices Dr Jean-François Berdah. “ From now on, everything that is analyzed here – biopsies, operated tumors or other samples – can be preserved in digital form, and no longer only on physical slides. This represents a major advancement in terms of data security, retention and reuse. Images can be enlarged, shared between teams, analyzed remotely, and tomorrow integrated into artificial intelligence tools capable of identifying anomalies that the human eye cannot always detect.”
Installation of a PET-Scan still pending
« But for optimal care, which we still lack today, it is a PET scan and molecular biology on site. », concedes the head of the cancer center at the same time. “It is the sea serpent that returns regularly, even if we are moving slowly towards its establishment in Corsica. What we also lack is molecular biology, since we know that now, practically all patients, one day or another, will need a blood test or an analysis of their biopsy or their tumor to check that there is not an anomaly, a mutation which would make them eligible for a particular treatment.Today we are obliged to send the samples. It is not a waste of luck or a waste of time, but it is in any case somewhat impractical to have to systematically send and wait for the result to come back ».
Proof, however, that the Ajaccio hospital tends to be part of a research dynamic, always seeking advances to better care for patients, in the coming weeks, Dr. Berdah will participate in a world congress of urology oncology in San Francisco. A summit which will bring together the greatest specialists in bladder and prostate cancer and which will allow Ajaccian practitioners to learn more about the latest therapeutic innovations. “ These are things that we do regularly, but there are conferences like this one which are a little more prestigious and allow us to have the information as close as possible, as quickly as possible. That is to say, if we see the emergence of this or that drug or this or that protocol, we will be able to quickly apply it to patients in Ajaccio rather than waiting to see what learned societies and major centers say about it. There, if there are new things, on Monday morning, when I come back, I could tell my colleagues, this is the new thing, and from next week, we can put it in place “, he says, “ And then, the advantage of going to such a congress is that you meet colleagues from everywhere, you can question them and discuss the protocols that they have put in place.”
Anchoring care in the territory
date:2026-02-09 19:55:00
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