Summary

The incidence of cancer is expected to rise substantially by 2030, because of the increasing world population, aging, and the introduction of cancer risk factors from developed countries to risks that already exist in low- and medium-resource countries. Patients in low-resource countries typically present with advanced cancer. Obstacles to prevention, early detection, and therapy include scarce human resources, financial barriers, lack of radiotherapy facilities, limited access to anti-cancer drugs and palliative care, and insufficient coordinated action.