Less-developed-region countries (LDCs) are seeing a rapid rise in cancer incidence owing to changing lifestyles, infections, environmental carcinogens and increasing longevity. LDCs have poor resources to deal with cancers, leading to high mortality rates. Investment in nationally implementable and sustainable cancer prevention and screening strategies would be more appropriate for LDCs. This Science and Society article outlines the burden of preventable cancers in selected LDCs and discusses evidence on cost-effective and widely implementable prevention and screening strategies.