Environment and cancer: the legacy of Lorenzo Tomatis

As an introduction to the series of papers arising from the first ‘Lorenzo Tomatis Conference on Environment and Cancer’ , Tomatis’ contributions to research in cancer prevention are first noted, especially the ongoing programme ‘IARC Monographs on Carcinogenic Risk for humans’ that he established at the International Agency for Research on Cancer’ , of which he was the Director from 1982 to 1993. The programme, started in 1972, has become an international authoritative reference and represents an early ‘evidence-based’ development bringing together a comprehensive evaluation of both experimental and epidemiological data. Next the recurrent issue of how large is the contribution of environmental factors to cancer etiology is examined pointing to the several limitations making estimates of the population fraction of cancers attributable to environment delicate to interpret or sometimes even misleading. Finally mention is made of societal issues such as social inequalities in cancer occurrence and fatality, communication in the clinical oncology and cancer prevention and screening areas and the relation between these and the blossoming basic cancer research boosted by the revolution in molecular biology and genetics.