Back to the future… The challenge for cancer education and training in developing countries.

It is the best of times and the best of times. It is time for the AACE-CPEN Annual Meeting. This year our family will gather in Seattle to share lessons learned and to plot new adventures. For many of us, this is the highlight of our year where we take time out from our busy schedules to renew acquaintances and make new ones. A time to learn new skills, share knowledge, and become reenergized. This year's meeting promises to be an excellent one. A number of excellent podium and poster presentations have been scheduled which should certainly satisfy our need for new knowledge and skills. In addition, a number of speakers have been invited to share their expertise. Dr. Mary Gospodarowicz, President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), will be one of the leadoffs of this year's meetings and present the esteemed Harvey Lecture. Also proffering invited presentations will be Drs. Vic Strecher (University of Michigan), Dr. Anthony Black (Seattle Cancer Coalition), and Dr. Bill Thompson (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center). These presentations will certainly stimulate both the left and right sides of our brain. This year's meeting will also offer an exciting array of presentations in a series of concurrent sessions. On the Wednesday morning, there will be several workshops in the areas of Art-Based Cancer Education (Dr. Cueva), Responsible Conduct of Research (Dr. Chang), and Health Literacy (Dr. Payne), three timely and inspiring workshops led by three eminently qualified individuals. What a great way to start our meetings. A note to all presenters—I urge you all to turn your presentations into publications! A review of the agenda for this year's meeting not only highlights where we are, but is also evidence of how far we've come. When the JCE began, a number of articles focused on the fatalistic attitudes of both cancer patients and the general public. Back then, it was a challenge to get people to say the word “cancer”; today we talk of survivorship. Today we discuss implementation of public programs focused on primary and secondary prevention: new models of interprofessional education, programs in tobacco cessation and nutrition, strategies related to patient communication, etc. We have made vast strides in how we relate to each other and to the general public and cancer patients. However, this is not the case everywhere in the world. I had the privilege of participating in a cancer control workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, earlier this year. It was led by Dr. Chumy Nwogu, a colleague of mine at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and sponsored by the UICC. The broad goals of this workshop were to explore cancer prevention strategies and identify methods to improve cancer data collection and strategies to promote cost-effective collaborative cancer care. I believe that we were fairly successful in meeting these goals; however, we have a long way to go. Cancer incidence rates are increasing in developing countries due to increased exposure to cancer risk factors, reduced competition from infectious diseases, and increased life expectancy. In many ways, the state of cancer education in developing countries is similar to what we in the Americas faced in the 1950s and early 1960s. The public has a very negative and fatalistic view of cancer. This is not totally undeserved. Many nations lack the infrastructure and resources to effectively combat cancer. Facilities are ill equipped, and there are far too few professionals to deal with the mounting number of cancer cases. So what do we do... concede defeat or learn from past experience? Yes, it is time to go back to the future. The 1985 blockbuster movie, “Back to the Future,” tells the story of a young man who travels back in time where he accidentally meets and attracts the interest of his future mother [1]. This causes a schism in time affecting his parents' marriage and consequently his own existence. Hemust, therefore, travel back in time to repair the damage done. We are faced with a similar situation in the development and implementation of cancer A. M. Michalek D’Youville College, Buffalo, NY, USA