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Ivan Pourmir (medical oncologist)
Victim of tonsil cancer in 2018, Véronique Sanson is much better. But she unfortunately kept the after-effects of her treatment and in particular a lack of saliva. Why such a side effect? Answers from Ivan Pourmir, medical oncologist at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital.
If she has not lost her voice, Véronique Sanson still has some after-effects of her tonsil cancer. Because of the treatments she had to follow, and in particular, the radiotherapy sessions. “The radiation sessions lasted almost four hours. It was painful, it burned the skin. And then I lost my saliva” she confided in our colleagues from Parisian, a few days ago.
What is the treatment for tonsil cancer?
“Tonsil cancer is usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy“ explains first of all Ivan Pourmir, medical oncologist at the Georges-Pompidou hospital.The lack of saliva is one of the classic side effects of radiotherapy treatment, when it affects the ENT sphere. adds the specialist.
Indeed, X-rays destroy all cells, both cancerous cells and healthy cells. “They also destroy in particular the stem cells, which must differentiate and replace the cells in place, when they die. But as they are destroyed by the rays, this replacement does not take place and that is what leads to these effects. “.
In the rest of the interview, Véronique Sanson adds: “That’s why I always chew gum, even on stage. I lost my taste, too. It’s coming back a little, but it’s not like before”.
According to Ivan Pourmir, it is possible to prescribe substitutes for natural saliva, but they are not very effective. “They are sprays that moisten and hydrate the mouth, with the same viscosity as saliva, but they are not a perfect solution, far from it.“. In addition, the loss of taste does not help the sick to eat, to recover the weight lost due to the disease and the treatments. “Generally, patients eat less, they lose weight because the loss of taste affects their dietconfirms Ivan Pourmir.
Tonsil cancer: what are the risks of associated pathologies?
“The risk in this type of cancer is to discover an associated lung cancer, because they are the same risk factors: tobacco and alcohol, mainly” indicates the oncologist. A risk that Véronique Sanson seems to know, because she explains in the interview: “Today, I’m fine. But I’m crossing my fingers, because you never know”. The singer then evokes her tobacco consumption, which she knows is too high. “I smoke a lot”. But is said “unable to stop”.