PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PREVENTION IN ONCOLOGY: IMPACTS ON PUBLIC HEALTH

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of global morbidity and mortality, making primary and secondary prevention essential strategies to reduce its incidence and impact on public health. This study aims to analyze the effects of primary and secondary prevention on reducing cancer incidence and mortality, emphasizing the impact of these strategies on public health. This is an integrative literature review, with a search for articles published between 2018 and 2025 in the PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, using controlled descriptors. The results show that primary prevention, through vaccination, tobacco control, and promotion of healthy habits, significantly reduces the risk of cancer, but faces barriers such as behavioral resistance and misinformation. Secondary prevention, on the other hand, focused on screening and early diagnosis, improves survival rates, but comes up against inequality of access and limited infrastructure of health services. It is concluded that the integration between both strategies, combined with investments in technology and health education, is essential to optimize early detection and minimize the impacts of cancer on the population.