Many people dread the 'C' word because cancer is often associated with suffering and death. How can healthcare professionals work effectively while achieving job satisfaction and supporting patients and their families? Similarly, caregivers are also at risk of burnout, much like health care providers, as many cancer patients now experience extended survival times, thanks to significant medical advances. The guest editor, Professor Patricia Tai, extends a helpful hand to those burdened with great challenges by offering practical tips, drawn from her nearly 40 years of experience, that are easy to understand and follow. She has carefully observed healthcare systems in Canada and Hong Kong, China. She graciously brought together international experts from various medical fields to contribute to this special issue—a collaborative endeavor dedicated to our courageous patients and caregivers who fight their battles every day. The tentative chapters/topics are as follows. Contributors may choose to modify their topics, even though Prof. Tai has initially invited them to write on these intriguing aspects of cancer care:

• Global access to cancer care: Canada’s first off-site hormonal therapy injection program as an example from Saskatchewan

• How to evaluate the performance of cancer programs: Evaluation of the off-site program after five years. Concepts of lean management will be discussed, apart from lessons learned in operating the program

• Systemic therapy for prostate cancer: classes of drugs and management of their complications

• Palliative care

• Oncologic emergencies

• Prostate cancer: management in difficult scenarios

• Skin cancers: An illustration of mutual shared decision-making by patients and healthcare professionals

• Skin cancers: prevention

• CNS lymphoma: An example of advances in oncology over the past few decades

• Updates on lung cancer