Europe Against Cancer: Cancer Week UK

Since the beginning of the Europe Against Cancer (EAC) programme in 1989, much support and emphasis has been given to informing both health professionals and the public about cancer. This has come from the government and the many cancer-related charities and organizations. A week focused on cancer throughout the European Union (EU) has been encouraged each October. This paper describes the gradual development of these weeks to provide a more planned, co-ordinated and evaluated strategy. Collaboration with European partners is also addressed, emphasizing the positive benefits of such activities. Finally, the issue of monitoring and evaluation is addressed in some detail.     

Cancer Surveillance Research: a Vital Subdiscipline of Cancer Epidemiology

Public health surveillance systems relevant to cancer, centered around population-based cancer registration, have produced extensive, high-quality data for evaluating the cancer burden. However, these resources are underutilized by the epidemiology community due, we postulate, to under-appreciation of their scope and of the methods and software for using them. To remedy these misperceptions, this paper defines cancer surveillance research, reviews selected prior contributions, describes current resources, and presents challenges to and recommendations for advancing the field. Cancer surveillance research, in which systematically collected patient and population data are analyzed to examine and test hypotheses about cancer predictors, incidence, and outcomes in geographically defined populations over time, has produced not only cancer statistics and etiologic hypotheses but also information for public health education and for cancer prevention and control. Data on cancer patients are now available for all US states and, within SEER, since 1973, and have been enhanced by linkage to other population-based resources. Appropriate statistical methods and sophisticated interactive analytic software are readily available. Yet, publication of papers, funding opportunities, and professional training for cancer surveillance research remain inadequate. Improvement is necessary in these realms to permit cancer surveillance research to realize its potential in resolving the growing cancer burden.     

Cancer Survivorship: A New Challenge in Comprehensive Cancer Control

Cancer survivors are a growing population in the United States because of earlier cancer diagnosis, the aging of society, and more effective risk reduction and treatment. Concerns about the long-term physical, psychosocial, and economic effects of cancer treatment on cancer survivors and their families are increasingly being recognized and addressed by public, private, and non-profit organizations. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how survivorship fits within the framework of comprehensive cancer control. We summarize three national reports on cancer survivorship and highlight how various organizations and programs are striving to address the needs of cancer survivors through public health planning, including the challenges these groups face and the gaps in knowledge and available services. As cancer survivorship issues are being recognized, many organizations have objectives and programs to address concerns of those diagnosed with cancer. However, better coordination and dissemination may decrease overlap and increase the reach of efforts and there is limited evidence for the effectiveness and impact of these efforts.