Established in 2016 by the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) and officially promoted in collaboration with leading organizations and societies*, World Cancer Research Day calls for the active involvement of citizens, enterprises, institutions and leaders in diverse areas and activities to join efforts to support research in order to reduce the number of people who develop cancer and improve survival rates and the quality of life of cancer patients.
In 2015 there were an estimated 17.5 million cancer cases globally with 8.7 million deaths and cases are forecast to soar by 75% over the next 20 years. Considering these cancer statistics and the tremendous socioeconomic burden on healthcare systems across the globe – which can no longer be sustained anywhere irrespective of national cancer plans, allocated resources, or corresponding treasury, accelerating advances in cancer discovery and translating these insights into improved outcome for patients as swiftly as possible must be a top priority for the entire oncology ecosystem as well as the public at large – across borders.
Promoting the crucial importance of research in solving cancer sooner by further exposing the many hidden cancer drivers, harnessing vast amounts of data, stepping up the pace in turning discovery into real benefits at clinical level, and innovating our research approaches and clinical trial design, World Cancer Research Day contributes to the goals of the World Cancer Declaration and is dedicated to delivering on the following key goals by 2025:
- Increase social awareness and knowledge about the value and impact of cancer research.
- Enhance sustainable funding sources for cancer research in each country by involving individuals, companies and institutions.
- Promote international collaboration to enable global advances in cancer research.
- Provide training in cancer research.
- Encourage the development of infrastructures.
Commenting on the importance of safeguarding, promoting and further investing in cancer research of excellence Josep Tabernero, VHIO´s Director and President-elect of ESMO, said “Countless patients across the globe continue to benefit from practice-changing discoveries made by basic and clinical cancer researchers. This has thankfully been the case for decades. We must all collectively act now to ensure that all citizens, all partners, policymakers and other stakeholders in oncology fully appreciate and embrace the major impact on public health that is driven by cancer science.”
To discover more about World Cancer Research Day and support the cause by signing the World Declaration for Cancer Research please visit: http://worldcancerresearchday.com/?lang=en.
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*Official co-promoters of World Cancer Research Day:
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC), Dutch Cancer Society (DCS), and the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO).
