Terecht aandacht voor het kankerprobleem in Nederland gevraagd door de Nederlandse kankerbestrijding/koningin wilhelmina fonds

In the Netherlands, cancer will remain a significant issue in health care according to a signalling commission of the Dutch national cancer fund (Nederlandse Kankerbestrijding/Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds). If smoking would be abandoned, the incidence of lung cancer would drop dramatically. The role of food in carcinogenesis appears to be much less than was earlier believed. Chemoprevention will also have very limited influence on cancer incidence. Attempts at early diagnosis of cancer have been so far successful only in patients with breast cancer over 50 years of age and in cervical cancer. More effective therapies for cancer are urgently needed. The cost-effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer and colon cancer is unfavourable. Determination of better prognostic factors may reduce the number of patients who unnecessarily undergo this treatment. New anticancer drugs tend to be very expensive and this lays a heavy burden on health care budgets. Efficacy of new treatments needs to be compared with established ones in randomized trials before reimbursement can be granted.