SPHmag.june08.2-19:SPHmag.June04.2-19
6/5/08
5:04 PM
Page 5
4 M UCH
ATTENTION
IS PAID TO THE NEED FOR BREAK THROUGHS IN CANCER TREATMENT.
B UT
IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST THE SOON TO - BE - LEADING CAUSE OF
U.S.
DEATHS , PUBLIC HEALTH IS PLAYING AN EQUALLY CRITICAL ROLE .
The Preemptive War on Cancer: Heading Off a Leading Killer Before it Strikes
Within a few years, based on current trends, cancer will
UCLAPUBLIC HEALTH
surpass heart disease to become the leading cause of death in the United States.
“When an important scientific discovery is made, it doesn’t automatically translate to the population, and it’s only when a technology is adopted at the level of entire communities that you can really have an impact on population health.” — Dr. Roshan Bastani
Considerable attention is rightfully paid to the search for improved cancer treatments. But often overlooked is public health’s vital role in the cancer fight – past, present, and future. It’s been estimated that more than half of cancers are preventable by taking advantage of what is known about behavioral strategies such as not smoking, limiting sun exposure, and engaging in physical activity and healthy eating. “When you look at the decline in lung cancer deaths among men, that’s not because of better treatment; it’s because of tobacco control efforts,” says Dr. Patricia Ganz, professor in the UCLA schools of public health and medicine and director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research, based in the School of Public Health. Ganz, a medical oncologist who has spent her career both treating cancer patients and engaging in pioneering research and advocacy on issues of quality of care and cancer survivorship, believes medicine and public health are equally important combatants in the fight. “But people only know when they get a disease, not when it was prevented – which is what public health does,” she says.