The global burden of women's cancers: a grand challenge in global health.
Every year, more than 2 million women worldwide are diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer, yet where a woman lives, her socioeconomic status, and agency largely determines whether she will develop one of these cancers and will ultimately survive. In regions with scarce resources, fragile or fragmented health systems, cancer contributes to the cycle of poverty. Proven and cost-effective interventions are available for both these common cancers, yet for so many women access to these is beyond reach. These inequities highlight the urgent need in low-income and middle-income countries for sustainable investments in the entire continuum of cancer control, from prevention to palliative care, and in the development of high-quality population-based cancer registries. In this first paper of the Series on health, equity, and women's cancers, we describe the burden of breast and cervical cancer, with an emphasis on global and regional trends in incidence, mortality, and survival, and the consequences, especially in socioeconomically disadvantaged women in different settings.
Women's College Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: ophira.ginsburg@wchospital.ca.
Ophira
O
Ginsburg
Cancer Surveillance Section, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
Freddie
F
Bray
Cancer Survival Group, Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Michel P
MP
Coleman
National Center for Radiotherapy, Korlebu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.
Verna
V
Vanderpuye
Cancer Institute Ion Chiricuta, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Alexandru
A
Eniu
Institute for Global Health Equity and Innovation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
S Rani
SR
Kotha
James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Malabika
M
Sarker
Hanoi Medical University and National Institute for Cancer Control, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Tran Thanh
TT
Huong
Cancer Survival Group, Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Claudia
C
Allemani
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Allison
A
Dvaladze
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Julie
J
Gralow
Queen's University Faculty of Health Sciences, Office of Global Health, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Karen
K
Yeates
Global Focus on Cancer, Port Chester, NY, USA.
Carolyn
C
Taylor
Independent Global Health Specialist, Washington, DC, USA.
Nandini
N
Oomman
Research Triangle Institute Global India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, India; St John's Research Institute, Bengarulu, India.
Suneeta
S
Krishnan
Institute of Cancer Policy, King's Health Partners Comprehensive Cancer Centre, London, UK; King's Centre for Global Health, King's Health Partners and King's College London, UK.
Richard
R
Sullivan
Ocean Road Cancer Centre, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Dominista
D
Kombe
School of Public Health and Administration, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
Magaly M
MM
Blas
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia.
Groesbeck
G
Parham
Health Economics Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Natasha
N
Kassami
Health Economics Group, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Lesong
L
Conteh
D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007182:Income; D011203:Poverty; D012923:Social Class; D016387:Women's Health