Facts Cancer control plans are based on a systematic review of the cancer burden and scientific knowledge of what has proven effective in reducing it. They provide a framework for all aspects of cancer control and promote the efficient use of resources. Cancer control can be significantly improved through sustained strategies of primary prevention and successful early detection.

Audience The sessions are for those involved in cancer control research and programme implementation - public health scientists and practitioners, epidemiologists, public health educators, behavioural scientists, investigators, and project managers - who wish to expand their knowledge of new strategies.

The themes include epidemiological research and cancer surveillance, cancer control planning and evaluation, the burden of cancer, social inequalities, moving from science to policy, health promotion and information, health systems, media intervention, changing behaviour, risk assessment, vaccines, diet, alcohol, physical activity, obesity, infections, occupational and environmental cancers, sun protection, screening, detection, and diagnosis.

Tobacco use is a major cause of preventable cancers and death. Effective global action is needed to cut tobacco use and save lives. There is a need to understand the scale of the tobacco epidemic, share successful tobacco control efforts, best practices and intervention techniques, and improve strategies for effective implementation worldwide of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The sessions are for tobacco control researchers, professionals, educators, advocates, project managers, governmental policy decision-makers, and all those involved in the implementation of smokefree policies.

The themes will focus on how a global movement for tobacco control can be successful. They include the WHO FCTC, hazards of tobacco products, strategies for social, political and economic changes to reduce tobacco use and exposure, the necessity and practicalities of smokefree policies, communicating the benefits of quitting, helping tobacco users to stop, tobacco industry tactics and marketing practices, tobacco smuggling, tobacco surveillance and control in developing countries, trade, social and economic costs of growing tobacco in developing countries, GLOBALink, and the role of cancer societies in tobacco control.

There are unprecedented scientific and clinical advances in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. There are also growing gaps between what is scientifically known and what is practically applied. Transferring knowledge to those who need it will play a critical role in how we cope with the increasing cancer burden.

The sessions are for cancer researchers, health professionals - clinicians, nurses, general practitioners, epidemiologists, pathologists, educators, medical and nursing students, as well as cancer society staff and volunteers.

This track will include sessions for all those who seek to expand their knowledge in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Workshops will address tumour classification and staging, pathology standards, childhood cancers, multidisciplinary treatment, professional education, evidence-based medicine, and access to treatment. Dedicated sessions will highlight research, detection and treatment challenges that result from the shift in the burden of cancer to resource-constrained countries.

Receiving a cancer diagnosis changes people's lives dramatically. It brings fear and uncertainty, physical challenges and serious financial implications. It affects families, partners and friends. Supportive and palliative care from time of diagnosis should be a basic right of every cancer patient, and programmes need to be strengthened.

The sessions are for survivors, volunteers, and cancer and health professionals engaged in peer support, behavioural researchers, medical and nursing students and residents, patient educators, hospice staff, specialists in rehabilitation and palliative care, and all those who care for cancer patients and their families.

The sessions will highlight the advances, challenges, and barriers to providing supportive care to cancer patients worldwide. They include patient empowerment and patient-centred care, advocacy, cancer information services, psycho- oncology, quality of life, peer support models, survivorship, palliative care and end-of-life care, and cancer and the elderly.

Voluntary cancer organizations have helped to put cancer on the agenda and have contributed to significant improvements in cancer incidence and mortality and to the quality of life of those living with cancer. Their activities vary from country to country, often depending on what is or is not done by governments.

The sessions are targeted at voluntary cancer societies and leagues, patient support and advocacy groups, and cancer networks.

The sessions will focus on how to build the capacity of UICC members and other cancer organizations to operate effectively within their own communities and to contribute more widely to the global effort of cancer control. They include governance, fund-raising, marketing, coalition-building, media relations, project management, and accountability.