[How to declare an occupational cancer and why?]

Many occupational cancers in France are not notified to social insurance. However, they must be searched for, because identification of an occupational exposure to carcinogenic chemical or process allows compensation for impairment and handicap. Due to the latency of the disease, screening and diagnosis of occupational cancers relies upon general practitioners. The patient notifies by himself his occupational disease to the social insurance. He joins a medical certificate that any physician can deliver. Recognition of the occupational origin of the disease depends on social status of the victim. The notification of the occupational disease has also consequences for prevention: identification of new carcinogenic substances or processes, adjustment of the legislation.