Pancreatic Cancer From the Patient Perspective: The Time to Act is Now.

Pancreatic cancer is a disease requiring urgent attention from governments and policymakers. Recently, a state of emergency has been declared for this cancer-being the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths in the European Union, it has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers. One of the major reasons pancreatic cancer is associated with such poor outcomes is because it is usually diagnosed at a late stage.

Evaluation of biobank constitution and use: multicentre analysis in France and propositions for formalising the activities of research ethics committees.

Biobanks are collections of biological material and related files gathered and stored for clinical or research purposes. Here, we investigated the questions raised during the evaluation of biobanks by biomedical Research Ethics Committees (RECs), particularly in the context of genetic research. We sent a questionnaire to all RECs in France to survey their concerns and the ethical criteria used when evaluating research involving the storage of biological samples.

Communication of pharmacogenetic research results to HIV-infected treated patients: standpoints of professionals and patients.

The aim of pharmacogenetic studies is to adapt therapeutic strategies to individual genetic profiles, thus maximising their efficacy and minimising the likelihood of adverse side effects. Since the advent of personalised medicine, the issue of communicating research results to participants has become increasingly important. We addressed this question in the context of HIV infection, as patients and associations are particularly concerned by research and therapeutic advances.

Study of the involvement of research ethics committees in the constitution and use of biobanks in France.

Concerns are emerging about the protection of individuals who take part in genetic research involving biobanks. We used several items of a questionnaire sent to 48 French research ethics committees (RECs) to investigate the means by which they evaluate the constitution and use of biobanks, and the elements on which conclusions were based. Most RECs felt they should evaluate the constitution of biobanks in protocols, but not all did so in practice.