Head of the oncology department of the Lyon Sud Hospital Centre, the Prof. Pr Véronique Trillet-Lenoir takes a keen interest both in the development of oncology at a regional level, as well as in her patients. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Synergie Lyon Cancer Foundation.

During her medical studies at the University of Lyon, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir rapidly felt the need to “wrestle with the disease and to tackle a powerful enemy, that killed many people at the time”. After having obtained her PhD in medicine, following her medical internship, she worked with clinical scientists at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. She took part in the development of predictive tests to ascertain the sensitivity of cancers to chemotherapy, well before the establishment of targeted therapies. In 1986, when she returned to Lyon, the field of medical oncology did not yet encompass all of the pathologies associated with cancers. The Prof. Jean Brune, a true “visionary”, head of the pulmonology department of the Louis Pradel Hospital in Lyon, at the time, entrusted the development of a specific thoracic oncology unit to Véronique Trillet-Lenoir. When a medical oncology service was created by the Civil Hospices of Lyon (“Hospices Civils de Lyon” or HCL) at the Lyon Sud Hospital Centre in 1993, the previous experience of the young scientist in that particular field naturally led to her appointment to head its implementation.

While I look after my patients, I never lose sight of what I am doing

Built ex nihilo in approximately twelve years at the Lyon Sud Hospital Centre, the department headed by Véronique Trillet-Lenoir since 2003, will soon include 30 beds. It currently acts as an interface with the Hospital Centre of the Croix-Rousse and the Léon Berard Centre in order “to provide synergy to the transversal organisation of oncology in Lyon”, and conducts preliminary evaluations of molecules (phase I assays) in association with the “Therapeutic Targeting in Oncology” unit. Véronique Trillet-Lenoir takes part, in particular, in clinical research studies, such as the pharmacology of anti-cancer drugs and cancers in elderly people. In charge of teaching general oncology at the Lyon Sud Training and Research Unit (UFR) of the Claude Bernard University, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir also welcomes junior doctors to the unit. “Having developed the healthcare, research and training aspects of medical oncology at the HCL, I felt like I had achieved my goal”, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir explains. “Yet, I am eager to take on new challenges, since it is in my nature and since we have not yet succeeded in our fight against cancer”.

Scientific advisor for the Healthcare Quality department (“département Qualité des Soins “) at the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) up until 2008, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir is currently Secretary General of the French National Oncology Council (“Conseil National de Cancérologie”). For the last six months, she has been at the head of the managing committee of the “Cancéropole Lyon Rhône Alpes Auvergne” (CLARA), a research cluster dedicated to cancer. Highly active and involved in various aspects of the fight against cancer, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir is continually aware of the urgency and the necessity of caring for her patients: “The sight of the sick patients treated in the department never leaves my mind, where ever I go. I invariably know why I am here and why I do what I do: I consider myself lucky”.