The tenth meeting of National Cancer Institute Directors took place in Lyon between 8th and 10th July, 2015. The previous meeting attracted over 100 participants from 50 countries at varying levels of income and resource. Once again people invited by prof. Peter Boyle, Director of International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon discussed a lot about cancer issues.
The 2015 NCID brought together 130 thought leaders, national cancer institute directors and ministers of health.
The meeting in 2015 included “World Bladder Cancer Report 2015” which was launched at this meeting. Once again, this report highlighted the disparities which exist in the diagnosis, treatment and outcome of this important disease. Two other Reports were discussed at this meeting: “State of Oncology in Africa 2015” and “State of Oncology in the Indian Sub-Continent 2016”. These two latter reports referred the current state of oncology in nearly one half of the world’s population.
There were sessions, devoted to the themes of : barriers to re-imbursement of new therapies; liver cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention; focus of cancer in North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia Republics; the Next 11 countries (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam); and prevention of incidence and mortality from melanoma. The important issue of ‘Access’ was a key thread run through all these sessions.
Link for photo: http://bit.ly/1HVCX0a
FROM IPRI page
Treatment of cancer in Poland
Cancers are becoming the main cause of premature mortality in Europe. A similar trend is also being observed in Poland. Time trends for standardised mortality indicators due to the most common cancers in both sexes demonstrate a considerable variety of patterns in their incidence and course of disease. Two cancer sites, lung cancer and stomach cancer, dominated the epidemiological developments that occurred in Poland in the last 50 years in both sexes. In the middle of the 20th century stomach cancer has been by large the most prevalent cancer in both sexes in Poland. For the entire period of observation stomach cancer incidence and mortality in Poland has been decreasing, making stomach cancer a rare disease at the beginning of the 21st century. At the same time in Poland, as well as in other European states, a rising epidemic of lung cancer has been observed, first in men and, following a 20-year delay, also in women. In the second decade of the 21st century lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer in Poland in both sexes. While in the case of stomach cancer the reasons for its decline are not fully understood, the lung cancer epidemic has been thoroughly explained and could be prevented by the eradication of smoking from the human population. The experience of Poland has also confirmed this phenomenon. A careful analysis of the epidemiologic cancer trends must become a key component in the preparation of a cancer control strategy in Poland. Polish oncologists jointly advocate that Poland needs a new plan in the field of oncology, in view of the population ageing. Although people live longer, they tend to suffer from many old-age diseases. The falling level of cancer risk factors is certainly a positive phenomenon. This is reflected, for instance, in the falling number of tobacco smokers, observed in the male population of Poland, but not among women. Alcohol consumption and the rate of infections, which have been proven to constitute cancer risk factors, are also falling. At the same time, a visible progress can be seen in the field of diagnosis and treatment. At present, cancer more and more often tends to be a chronic disease, rather than a mortal one. Many people suffer from cancer, but it does not have to constitute their immediate cause of death. It can be assumed that the number of people surviving cancer will be on the rise, with the continuing upward trend in the total cancer incidence rate being unavoidable. However, it should be stressed that the society might exert a considerable impact on this rate, given that two-thirds of all carcinomas are induced by human behaviour, including addictions, nutrition patterns, insufficient physical activity, excessive sunbathing, or infections which are clearly not beyond our control. If no specific measures are taken in this area, one can hardly expect any improvement in the current epidemiological trends.
(From polish pages about oncology)
