As cancer detection rates and therapy successes increase in high-income countries, it is predicted that over the next decade more than 75% of cancer-related deaths will occur in low-income and middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa, which contains many of these countries, is currently unprepared with inadequate screening and detection methods, treatment and palliative care capacity. In this Viewpoint, we asked experts to discuss this burden and what is needed to alleviate it.
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S.G. is supported through National Cancer Institute (NCI) grants, a consultant at Genesiscare USA and has stock options with Harbinger Health. S.A., C.A. and C.M. declare no competing interests.
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Sharmila Anandasabapathy is a Professor of Medicine in Gastroenterology and Senior Associate Dean and Vice President of Global Programs at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. In her current role, she oversees the international academic and research programs at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University in Houston.
Fredrick Chite Asirwa, CEO of International Cancer Institute (ICI), is a medical oncologist and haematologist providing cancer clinical care across sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to being the Principal Investigator of multiple interventional oncology clinical trials, he also teaches residents and fellows. ICI leads research, clinical care and training in sub-Saharan Africa.
Surbhi Grover is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, Director of Global Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at University of Botswana. Grover has been working with the Botswana-UPenn partnership, strengthening the oncology program in Botswana, where she moved full time in 2014.
Chemtai Mungo is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She received her medical degree from the University of California San Francisco and holds a Master’s in Public Health. Her research is focused on cervical cancer prevention in low-income and middle-income countries, specifically in Kenya and Malawi, where she teaches trainees and leads clinical trials.
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Anandasabapathy, S., Asirwa, C., Grover, S. et al. Cancer burden in low-income and middle-income countries. Nat Rev Cancer 24, 167–170 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-023-00659-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41568-023-00659-2