In recent decades, we have seen good predictions about the cancer scenario in the world and Brazil. We’ve lost fewer lives, and we’ve made technological advances in prevention, diagnostics, and innovative treatments on more humane journeys.

An article signed by researchers from the National Cancer Institute (INCA), published in Frontiers of Oncology at the beginning of the year, predicted that the death rate from early cancer in Brazil would decrease by 12% among men and 4.6% among women, from 2026 to 2030, compared to data between 2011 and 2015.

But we still have a lot to do, because while positive, the country’s decline falls short of the target of reducing deaths from non-communicable chronic diseases detailed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN).

Since the numbers in this case refer to lives, the context becomes more delicate. All remissions, treatments and all improvements in cancer patients’ quality of life are significant.

This is what we will deal with in the following pages and in the special section of this issue, highlighting in particular the revolutionary developments in the cancer scenario in recent years.