Articles
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…
Regional cancer centres to boost access to cancer care across Uganda
The Uganda Cancer Institute, set up in Kampala in 1967 as a centre for research and treatment of lymphoma, was one of the first cancer treatment centres in East Africa, and continues to play a leading role as a national…
Geriatric oncology: how physicians in Latin America are personalising treatments and changing attitudes
When Gerardo Silveyra, a retired chemist from Toluca, Mexico, thinks about his recently deceased mother, Guadalupe Contreras, he regrets not having taken her to see a geriatrician sooner. Contreras, who died aged 93, had been “a very active woman,” and…
Further and faster: ECO mobilises to accelerate momentum from Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
“All over Europe new initiatives are being triggered. New communities of action are being formed, from young cancer trainees taking part in interspecialty training together, to cancer centres in every country getting ready to be part of a brand new…
Angiogenesis: how cutting the blood supply became a tool against cancer
The human body is permeated by an extensive network of approximately sixty thousand miles of blood vessels – an intricately organised system designed for the precise and efficient distribution of oxygen and nutrients to all cells and organs, and for…
HPV vaccination: generating demand by spreading knowledge and information
"The most sustainable way is for people to understand that when my girl reaches 10 years, I just take her for the HPV vaccine. That's the sustainable way where all of us take responsibility. We either hold our daughters' hands…
Ultra-high dose rate radiation: is FLASH the future?
Radiation that kills only tumour cells and spares healthy tissue? It sounds too good to be true. But if the promise of recent research is fulfilled, the FLASH technique of ultra high dose-rate delivery could present the greatest transformation of…
Advocating for accessible cancer care in the global South: are we doing this all wrong?
“You have to convince the people with their hands on the levers of power. They don’t see things as we see them. They have other problems on their minds…” Ten years after launching the Stop Cancer Now! appeal, which outlined…
Untreated malnutrition is rife among cancer patients: here’s how we can do better
In the mid-1970s, the US medical community was shocked by an article published in Nutrition Today under the title ‘The Skeleton in the Hospital Closet’. "I suspect that one of the largest pockets of unrecognized malnutrition in America exists, not…
Supporting mental health helps patients feel better – could it also improve cancer outcomes?
Psychological stress is a known factor in numerous diseases from heart failure to auto-immune conditions. Evidence is now growing that implicates stress as a factor in cancer as well, with higher rates of recurrence and progression found in people experiencing…