Re-envisioning the value proposition for investment in cancer care

Cancer’s place within broader health system development highlights key contradictions and distortions. While innovation in cancer care—spanning medicines, Articial Intelligence, and radiotherapy—advances rapidly, these technologies can be costly and often provide marginal benefits. Lower-cost approaches such as screening, patient navigation, and supportive care remain underutilized, especially in developing health systems. Simultaneously, cancer’s financial burden exacerbates inequities, driving patients into poverty and straining under-resourced systems. To address these contradictions, this paper calls for a re-envisioning of cancer care as a strategic investment within health systems by presenting four key transitions: 1) a shift in the predominant narrative of cancer control as a clinical problem to positioning it as a universal health system priority with far-reaching societal and economic benefits; 2) a greater emphasis on how cancer care supports health system strengthening across the full continuum of services involved in cancer control; 3) a view on cancer as a gateway for technology and systemic investments, showcasing its potential to generate and leverage cross-cutting improvements with benefits across clinical areas and; 4) the need to align cancer control with rigorous fiscal, economic, and operational planning to ensure that investments deliver broad and sustainable health system impacts. By embedding cancer control into health system development, governments can close equity gaps, optimize resources, and strengthen system resilience to address current and future health challenges.