THE FIRST International Agency for Research on Cancer

Rodolfo Saracci and
Christopher P. Wild
1965–2015
THE FIRST
International Agency
for Research on Cancer
YEARS
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) was born of a big
idea: to redirect some of the vast sums of money that the most powerful
nations were investing in their military might after the Second World War,
and to use these funds not to ght each other but to ght together against a
common enemy: cancer. Cooperation, not conict.
Although the nancial model never materialized, the second component
of the big idea – a spirit of cooperation – was realized, and ourished.
Since its creation in 1965 as the specialized cancer agency of the World
Health Organization, IARC has conducted research worldwide and helped
thousands of cancer researchers from developing countries hone their skills
through fellowships, courses, and collaborative projects.
This book charts the birth of IARC during the 1960s – a period of great
optimism for international cooperation and medical science. It goes on
to describe the Agency’s major achievements over the past ve decades
in terms of the development of tools for conducting cancer research, the
identication of risk factors, and the evaluation of preventive interventions.
By examining IARC’s history, the authors illustrate how, despite the changing
landscape of cancer research, the original vision continues to be a valid
response to the needs for cancer prevention and control worldwide. This is
ever more the case as the disease burden falls more heavily on developing
countries, and international collaborative studies are increasingly relied upon
to address national priorities for cancer control.
International Agency for Research on Cancer: THE FIRST 50 YEARS, 1965–2015

Lyon, 2015
Rodolfo Saracci and
Christopher P. Wild
1965–2015
THE FIRST
International Agency
for Research on Cancer
YEARS

Published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer,
150 cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
©International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2015
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The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any
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The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer welcomes requests for permission to reproduce or translate its
publications, in part or in full. Requests for permission to reproduce or translate IARC publications – whether for sale
or for non-commercial distribution – should be addressed to the IARC Communications Group, at: [email protected].
Cover images, from left to right: a child receives a vaccination in Africa (Credit: iStockphoto/Subman); the IARC
tower building, located in the eighth district of Lyon, France (Credit: R. Dray/IARC); an IARC laboratory technician
uses confocal microscopy to visualize immunostained proteins in xed cells (Credit: R. Dray/IARC).
This book is also available in electronic format from http://www.iarc.fr/en/publications/books/iarc50.
IARC Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
International Agency for Research on Cancer: the rst 50 years, 1965–2015 / Rodolfo Saracci and Christopher P. Wild
1. International agencies – history 2. World Health Organization – history 3. Anniversaries and special events
4. Biomedical research – history 5. Neoplasms – prevention and control
I. Saracci, Rodolfo II. Wild, Christopher P.
ISBN 978-92-832-0441-1 (NLM Classication: WA11)

This book is dedicated to
Marika and Heather
who share our passion for the Agency