Cancer is an enormous problem around the world. The International Agency for Cancer estimates that more than 19 million new cancer cases were diagnosed, and almost 10 million cancer deaths occurred in 2020 1.
Around 670,000 cancer deaths are registered in Latin America annually 2. Cancer is the second cause of death after cardiovascular diseases in most countries and is the first cause of premature death in many of them 1.
Human, sanitary and socio-economic impacts and the increasing scale of these figures shock our countries. Yet, our region has limited human and material resources to address this problem and notorious and persistent inequalities in health access. Governments confront an enormous challenge.
Reliable and detailed information is necessary for cancer control programs. It is impossible to carry out the situation diagnosis, design and implement cancer control programs and assess their impact without reliable and stable Population Based Cancer Registries. High-quality data from cancer registries is an invaluable tool for governments, professionals, and researchers to confront the problem we face.
Population Based Cancer Registries covers just 23.3% of the Latin-American population, and only 2.4% is covered by high-quality PBCR, according to Global Initiative for Cancer Registration - IARC (2).
Colombia Medica Journal publishes in this issue a broad compilation of several Latin-American Population Based Cancer Registries corresponding to the 2013-2017 period, involving information from the registries of Cali, Manizales, and Pasto (Colombia), the registry of Quito (Ecuador), and the national cancer Registry of Uruguay. Notably, the pioneer and high-quality Cancer Registry of Cali publishes its experience of 60 years of activity and survival analysis of 1998-2017.
Colombia Medica dedicates this issue to cancer epidemiology to communicate quantitative and epidemiologic support to researchers and professionals to take appropriate health measures. Authors, peer reviewers, and editors have worked diligently and rigorously to offer reliable data following IARC quality standards. We hope readers and researchers enjoy this issue.