He world cancer day
is an initiative led by the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) that began on February 4 2000 in the framework of the world summit against cancer for the new millennium held in Paris. The main objective of this event is to raise awareness and mobilize society to advance in the prevention and control of this disease. For the second consecutive year, the campaign slogan is “For fairer care”a slogan that aims to highlight the lack of equality in access to essential health services.
Cancer is one of the most important diseases worldwide. In Aragon alone, in 2022 cancer had an incidence of 661 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and a total of 8,757 new cases were diagnosed, according to data from the Observatory of the Spanish Association Against Cancer. By 2023, it is estimated that the number of cancers diagnosed in Spain will reach 279,260 cases, according to REDECAN calculations included in the report Cancer figures in Spain 2023. Currently, cancerous tumors represent the second cause of death in Spainonly behind diseases of the circulatory system.
Cancer occurs when
normal cells become tumor cells through a multi-step process that usually involves the progression of a precancerous lesion to a malignant tumor. Among the most common are breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, skin (other than melanoma) and gastric.
Cancers can have multiple causes and, like other diseases, most cancers result from exposure to various causative factors. It is important to remember that while some factors cannot be changed,
about a third of cancer cases can be prevented reducing risks associated with behavior and nutrition, such as tobacco, obesity, physical inactivity, infections, alcohol, environmental contamination, carcinogens associated with work, and radiation. Another third can be cured if detected early and treated properly.
On the occasion of World Cancer Day, the Spanish Association Against Cancer has launched the campaign #AllAgainstCancerto communicate to the public the certainty that cancer affects or will affect everyone, either directly, and calls on society as a whole to choose prevention, early detection and research to achieve 70% survival in cancer by 2030.
The University of Zaragoza has also prepared a series of activities for that day, which can be found here.
More information:
·
World Cancer Day Initiative
· Spanish Association Against Cancer
·
Report: Cancer figures in Spain 2023, from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM)
· European Code Against Cancer
