Cancer, prevention, research and the “calendar girls”

Raquel Mattos Bernardo^1,2, Milena de Oliveira Monteiro³, Ernani Costa Mendes⁴, Solange Campos Vicentini⁵, Nelson de Souza Pinto^1,6, Dulciane Nunes Paiva⁷, Sebastião David Santos-Filho¹, Mario Bernardo-Filho^1,4

¹Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

²Universidade do Grande Rio, Curso de Medicina, Duque de Caxias, RJ, Brasil.

³Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Médicas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

⁴Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Coordenadoria de Pesquisa, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

⁵Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.

⁶Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brasil.

⁷Universidade Santa Cruz do Sul, Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brasil.

*Corresponding author e-mail: sdavidsfilho@gmail.com or santos-filho@uerj.br; Phone: 55-021-2868-8332, móbile: 55-021-8715-1371

Accepted 08 October, 2012

Abstract

World Health Organization work towards the prevention, the research and control of cancer. Movies have been used, as tools in the primary prevention, to discuss important problems in Health Sciences. The aim of this work is to present the number of publications (NP) in research and prevention and cancer in a database system, as well as to discuss about a film that shows an interesting way to get money to aid the development of a social program against cancer. The searches (24/09/2012) were performed in PubMed using the word cancer alone or cancer and prevention or cancer and research and the NP was determined. The results have shown 2682867 publications about cancer, and 141115 publications about prevention and cancer and 935397 publications about cancer and research. Calendar Girls is inspired in a true story of the Yorkshire (UK) housewives who posed nude for a calendar. Julie Walters star as Annie, spurred into action when her husband (John Alderton) dies of leukaemia. To raise money for the hospital where he was treated, the woman persuades their friends to strip for a saucy and discreet charity calendar. The film shows the meaning of the interactive processes of cooperation, when it is touching the public opinion for humanitarian causes. The analysis of the NP shows the importance of the studies about prevention and research in relation with cancer. The analysis of the film shows the relevance of the simple and creative actions to obtain money.

Keywords: Cancer, Prevention, Research, Calendar girl, movie, PubMed