The risk of cancer in Brazil: tendencies and recent epidemiologic studies

Abstract

The number of cancer cases has been increasing all over the world, mainly since the last century, to the point where nowadays it is one of the most serious public health problems worldwide. The frequency of distribution of the various types of cancer varies according to the specific characteristics of each region, which implies a need to study how geographic variations impact on this disease aiming an adequate monitoring and control. This work is a review of the most recent specialized literature, describingsome of the main types of cancer in Brazil have been described, focusing on epidemiologic research which has studied the risk factors associated with these cancers in our country. In this way, the authors aimed to contribute to an evaluation of the present risk of cancer in Brazil, analyzing the tendencies of its incidence, that could help to develop adequate public health policies to control this disease in our country.