The fight against non-communicable disease in emerging economies

October 17, 2018

Charles Schmidt, a science writer for Nature, highlights that health-care providers in low- and middle-income countries are shifting their focus away from infections, and towards the bigger problems of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

While cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17.9 million people annually,  cancers account for (9.0 million), respiratory diseases (3.9million), and diabetes (1.6 million). These 4 groups of diseases account for over 80% of all premature NCD deaths. Read more…

HPV-related cancer rates are rising. So are vaccine rates — just not fast enough.

Cancers linked to the human papillomavirus have increased significantly over the last 15 years in the United States, with throat cancer now the most common HPV-related malignancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. More than 43,000 people developed HPV-associated cancer in 2015, compared with about 30,000 in 1999, the CDC said.

At the same time, the CDC said, HPV vaccination rates are rising — a trend that could eventually curb the increase in cancer cases  — But the rate is not rising fast enough, experts say. Nearly half of adolescents ages 13 to 17 in 2017 had received all the recommended doses for HPV vaccination, while two-thirds had received the first dose. Read the Washington Post article…

This is a challenge for those in Low-Income Countries LIC and Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) as well.  Gallagher, K. et al, in Vaccine, “Status of HPV vaccine introduction and barriers to country uptake” suggest that if one-dose HPV vaccination became viable, some of the significant barriers to scale-up and sustained use in LIC/LMIC may be overcome. (Perhaps the same for Upper-Income Countries?) The vaccine could prevent 90 percent of HPV-caused cancer cases every year.

International Journal of Radiation and Oncology

Green Journal article, “ENLIGHT: European network for Light ion hadron therapy”

The article, “ENLIGHT: European network for Light ion hadron therapy” published in the most recent Radiotherapy and Oncology issue, chronicles 15 years of ENLIGHT, reflecting the power and need for collaboration. ENLIGHT has been extremely influential in its work related to hadron therapy (HT), including topics such as patient selection, clinical trials, technology, radiobiology, imaging and health economics. ENLIGHT was initiated through CERN and ESTRO and dealt with various disciplines such as (medical) physics and engineering, radiation biology and radiation oncology.   Read more

Excellent new blog series on radiotherapy by Cancer Research UK

Excellent new blog series on radiotherapy by Cancer Research UK provides a broad overview of radiotherapy treatment for cancer, tracing back to its roots in the 19th Century to how it’s used today. The online blog incorporates easy to understand videos chronicling radiotherapy through decades of research to refine, improve and innovate the treatment. Today radiotherapy has become an incredibly sophisticated and precise technique that cures more people than cancer drugs. Access the blog: An introduction to radiotherapy: what is it, how does it work, and what’s it for? and watch the video, “What is cancer radiotherapy and how does it work?”

Access to Medical Devices in Low-Income Countries: Addressing Sustainability Challenges in Medical Device Donations

The discussion paper, Access to Medical Devices in Low-Income Countries: Addressing Sustainability Challenges in Medical Device Donations, addresses critical barriers to successful medical donations, better alternatives for existing guidance for donations, and identifies solutions to improve the medical care in low-income countries. The paper focuses on how to effectively align and interact with alliance organizations, exporting and importing government agencies, international partners, local regulators and local partners of import countries. Read the article…

Changing the Global Radiation Therapy Paradigm

Read the recent journal article  “Changing the global radiation therapy paradigm”, written by ICEC Chief Scientific Program Director, David A. Pistenmaa and others, published in Radiotherapy and Oncology.   Filling the gap in cancer care in underserved regions worldwide requires global collaboration and concerted effort to share creative ideas, pool talents and develop sustainable support from governments, industry, academia and non-governmental organizations. Comprehensive cancer care, which fits within and strengthens the broader healthcare system, ranges from prevention to screening, to curative treatment, to palliative care and to long-term follow-up. Radiation therapy is an essential component for curative and palliative cancer care and can serve as a stable focal point physically and for personnel around which regional cancer and health care programs can be established. Read the article…

Radiotherapy and Oncology logo

Dr. C. Norman Coleman to receive The Ellen L. Stovall Award for In novation in Patient-Centered Cancer Care

The Ellen L. Stovall Award for Innovation in Patient-Centered Cancer Care is a unique opportunity for patients and survivors to recognize exceptional providers who are transforming cancer care.
The Stovall Award is awarded annually to individuals, organizations, or other entities who demonstrate innovation in improving cancer care for patients in America. NCCS created the Stovall Award in honor of Ellen Stovall, our longtime CEO who passed away in 2016 due to cardiac complications from her cancer treatment. In addition to Ellen’s pivotal efforts ensuring the delivery of high-quality cancer care and to survivorship,  Ellen was a founding board member of the International Cancer Expert Corps (ICEC), an organization that provided a conduit for to expand her efforts globally. Learn more about Dr. Coleman’s work, ICEC and the Ellen L. Stovall award.NCCS Announces 2018 Stovall Award Honorees

Burying the Complexity: Re-engineering for the Next Generation of Medical Linear Accelerators for Use in Challenging Environments (THIRD CERN-ICEC-STFC WORKSHOP)

The workshop, Burying the Complexity: Re-engineering for the Next Generation of Medical Linear Accelerators for Use in Challenging Environments, jointly organised by STFC, the International Cancer Expert Corps (ICEC) and CERN, was funded through the UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). It continued to develop the work that arose from two previous meetings held at CERN in November 2016 and October 2017. Its focus was to hear the outcome of five STFC seed-corn funded projects developed at the October 2017 workshop, and further refine the specification for a novel medical linear accelerator radiotherapy machine. Read more…

 Read the article...

Dr. Surbhi Grover’s efforts in Gaborone, Botswana are highlighted in the June 2018 Enlight Highlights newsletter. Dr. Grover, an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at University of  Pennsylvania (US) and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at University  of Botswana, has  focused her work on public health endeavors and cost-effective clinical initiatives to improve access to cancer care and outcomes of care in developing countries.  The article outlines her activities related to   four main pillars: clinical care  at PMH (largest tertiary public hospital with the largest public department in the country) for 50% of my time; research  in the framework of a collaboration of UPENN department of radiation oncology with University of Botswana; education  through U54 ( a mentoring core collaborative grant between UPenn and UB grant aimed to develop research capacity in HIV and cervical cancer among junior faculty at UB); technical Assistance to Ministry of Health (MOH)  to develop cancer guidelines for top 10 cancers in Botswana.  Read the article…

African scientists launch their own preprint

A group of open science advocates has launched the first preprint aimed exclusively at African scientists. AfricArxiv seeks to improve the visibility of African science by helping academics share their work quickly. The platform will be hosted on the Open Science Framework (OSF), a free, open-source software that allows researchers to connect and share their work. It will support preprints, postprints, code and data, and welcomes submissions from all African languages, including Akan, Twi, Swahili and Xhosa. Read more…