IOC 2022 Cancer Care Support (1st International Edition)

Cancer is part of our lives. Who has not had a relative, a friend or even experienced first-hand the consequences of suffering from a tumour pathology? Who has not, to a greater or lesser extent, talked about cancer in the last year? Who has not panicked because something has gone wrong in a medical test recently carried out on someone dear to them? While it is true that the prognosis for cancer has improved dramatically over the last few years, the word still has a negative quality to it. It is still, if you will pardon the expression, a word that no one likes to hear, for many people it is hopelessly associated with death. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most tumours can be cured with early diagnosis and timely treatment. We have improved diagnostic techniques, we have more and better treatments, mostly as a result of a better understanding of the molecular biology of cancer. Vast amounts of resources are devoted to cancer research. However, too often we forget the essence of what we do; our patients. We are getting better at treating cancer and worse at treating cancer patients.