Professors from the Area of History of Science at the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, Enrique Perdiguero, Eduardo Bueno, and Berta Echániz, along with Professor of History of Medicine from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) André Mota, have coordinated the work 'The Historical Construction of Cancer in the 20th Century: Transnational Spaces, Knowledge, and Narratives'. The publication, by the Sao Paulo-based publisher HUCITEC, is the first research to offer a comparative perspective on how the problem of cancer was managed on both sides of the Atlantic.
The book features contributions from researchers from various Ibero-American universities, including Brazilian, Spanish, and Portuguese scholars. The work highlights the peculiarities of each context, as well as similarities and knowledge exchanges. It notes that, for political reasons, the approach to cancer was earlier in Brazil and Portugal than in Spain.
The different chapters of the book explore how, from the early 20th century, cancer emerged as a major medical and social issue, leading to the creation of institutions with varying forms of integration into their respective healthcare systems. It also analyzes the circulation and appropriation of knowledge, alongside the production of context-specific knowledge, and recovers the experiences and narratives of those who suffered from an illness that, for much of the past century, was perceived as virtually a death sentence.
