Articles
Women’s career progression in science: challenges, barriers, and solutions
Despite significant and hopefully promising discussions, graphs plotted using data from studies conducted at global and European levels continue to show a distinctive ‘scissors’ shape, indicating a significant gender gap in academic and scientific careers, which starts at the doctoral…
Making sense of recent progress in advanced breast cancer
Every two years breast cancer specialists and patient advocates gather at the Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) International Consensus Conference to discuss challenges and uncertainties in treatment and care of people with advanced breast cancer, to explore how evidence, knowledge and…
Integrative and complementary cancer care mends an ancient division to put patients first
Physicians and cancer services provide better care when they recognise the benefit that complementary therapies can bring to their patients’ mental and physical wellbeing – as well as the potential risks. Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is defined by the…
Ethnic differences in cancer biology: What we are learning, and why it matters
There have been great strides in our understanding of cancer genomics - the mutational events that lead to high cancer risks and those that drive progression in cancer patients. Using vast databases such The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) from the…
Not just a climate issue: cutting cancer rates through cleaner cooking fuels in Africa
Nearly one billion people in Africa depend on polluting fuels like wood, charcoal, and kerosene for cooking, lighting, and heating their homes. The resulting household air pollution leads to approximately 700,000 premature deaths every year, constituting about 10% of the…
Hero? Survivor? Using the right words matters, but it’s not always straightforward
A new survey of 1,871 people living with cancer in the UK and US has revealed significant differences in the terms that they would like to be used to describe themselves. Descriptive terms such as “victim,” “sufferer” and “cancer stricken”…
Pooled procurement of drugs saves millions for Indian cancer centres
A pilot project pooling the procurement of cancer drugs has led to cancer institutes in India saving over USS 116 million – an 82% average reduction on the drugs' reference prices. The results of the pilot project, led by Tata…
Reversing the rising trend in prostate cancer mortality in Poland
Between 2015 and 2020, age-standardised prostate cancer mortality rates rose by an estimated 18% in Poland, reflecting an increase in deaths from 4,876 to 5,748 over that period. This trend was in sharp contrast to EU countries as a whole,…
From stigma to strategy: Egypt’s journey in combating cervical cancer
Before 2021, there was little official focus on cervical cancer in Egypt. The World Health Organization's 2021 report indicated that fewer than 1 in 10 Egyptian women had been screened for cervical cancer in the previous five years. That was…
Tackling the crisis in Europe’s oncology workforce
"We’ve heard politicians saying, ‘It's a time bomb’. No, it's not a time bomb. We see the system is cracking completely right now." Norbert Couespel, senior coordinator of policy research at the European Cancer Organisation, voices his deep frustration at…