A breast and cervical cancer screening campaign was recently organised at the Mohammed VI Hospital in Tangier as part of the twelfth edition of the Franco-Maghrebian Higher Course on Senology. "Targeted therapies in breast cancers" is the theme of this congress which brought together some 400 doctors from all four corners of the Kingdom, as well as from Tunisia, Algeria, and France. The day dedicated to screening, organised on the sidelines of the event, benefited more than 1,000 women who were examined by around forty doctors.

"In parallel with the screening operations, we were able to operate on 6 patients with cancer. Likewise, more than 400 smears were performed and more than 200 ultrasounds and 100 mammograms were carried out during this day. It should also be noted that people with cancer will be treated free of charge by the Al Azhar Oncology Centre," Dr Faouzi Habib, founder of the initiative alongside Daniel Serin, told the newspaper "Le Matin".

Furthermore, this twelfth edition aimed to deepen the debate on the management of cancer diseases in Morocco, to exchange information and experiences between Moroccan experts and their foreign counterparts, as well as to provide information on the latest techniques and therapeutics in terms of care and screening. Through this course, a focus was placed on therapeutic and diagnostic news. "New targeted molecules are at our disposal in neo-adjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic situations," explains Faouzi Habib. And he concluded: "Therapeutic results are improving, survival times are lengthening, but we must face new immediate or late toxicities that we must know, prevent, or treat if necessary". This edition was enriched by workshops intended for pathologists, nurses, physicists, and radiotherapy technicians as well as medical secretaries who were made aware of psycho-oncology. In parallel with this scientific course, which took the form of conference-debates led by Moroccan and foreign experts, stands were installed throughout the duration of the congress. It should be noted that the thirteenth edition will take place in September 2016 in Essaouira.