Professor Victor Israel, a hero in the fight against cancer

While I believe that the world should not rely on its leaders or pay disproportionate attention to personalities, I have real admiration for those who improve health.

This is the case of Professor Victor Izrael.

Since 1977, he has been one of the key French players in the fight against cancer. He has dedicated his entire career to it and operated in the Medical Oncology Department of the Tenon Hospital in Lyon, which he created in 1985 and directed for 18 years.

He is known to be on all fronts in the fight against cancer: he is one of the fathers of the Cancer Plan launched in France in 2002; he is a member of the Ministerial Orientation Commission, a permanent advisor to the Interministerial Mission for the Fight against Cancer, Vice President then Director of the National Cancer Institute and finally founding President of APREC (Alliance for Research in Cancer).

He operates, treats, is one of France's recognized experts and is above all involved in research. Through APREC, he finances part of the research, grants scholarships and has created a tumor library which makes it possible to study the genome of cancer cells from the numerous human tumor samples collected and conserved there. Genomic" research today makes it possible to determine predispositions to certain cancers, to predict the response of certain cancers to a particular treatment, and to designate new targets for the manufacture of new anti-cancer drugs.

APREC is also involved in clinical research.

As stated on the APREC website, "to cure cancer, we must not only find new drugs but also test them in humans, imagine new combinations and new strategies, and ultimately determine the best treatments for each patient: this is the role of clinical research.

Finally, APREC has developed so-called "transfer" research, characterized by back and forth movement between biomolecular research, clinical research and patient care. The foundation I created in memory of my sister, Dr. Ouidad Hachem, actively supports APREC.

I encourage all those who have the opportunity to do so not to hesitate to participate in this research by making donations to APREC.