Policy
Black in Cancer holds inaugural conference in London
A new organisation set up to amplify Black voices and contributions to oncology is making its mark, two years since its foundation. An inaugural London conference in October, supported by Cancer Research UK, included presentations by Black researchers, career talks…
First voluntary licensing of cancer drug sets ‘vital precedent’ for the industry
The first voluntary licence for a patented cancer medicine was signed last month on the fringes of the 2022 World Cancer Congress in Geneva. The agreement between the pharmaceutical company Novartis and the Medicines Patent Pool – a UN backed…
Tobacco industry still exerting power in Eastern Europe
Despite major progress in 2016, when the Romanian Parliament banned smoking in all indoor public spaces, indoor workplaces and public transportation, the country still has a tobacco problem. Around three in ten Romanians over the age of 15 are tobacco…
Addressing the pathological hole at the core of many LMIC cancer plans
A patient visits their local primary care facility with symptoms that could indicate a possible cancer. What happens next could determine their chances of survival. In the event that it turns out to be a cancer, a quick and accurate…
Delivering cervical cancer screening across India: the plan… and the practice
Gynaecologist Shalini Singh remembers the Pap smears she carried out until around twenty years ago, when she was working at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, in New Delhi. “We had about 15 Pap smear bottles per day…
Begging for imatinib: why do so many patients still lack access to this lifesaver?
Following doctor’s orders doesn’t usually mean making a two-hour round trip to visit your hospital twice a week to beg for any spare medication on the off-chance that someone has had to change to a different drug, or was able…
A call to action: how Poland is stepping up for Ukraine’s cancer patients
February 24, 2022. Julia, a lawyer living near Kiev, is counting down the days until her last chemo. After which she will still face surgery and radiation therapy on her way to recovering from breast cancer. Before dawn, she wakes…
Unicorns for Ukraine: mobilising to meet patients’ changing cancer care needs
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, consultant clinical oncologist Mohammed Hojouj put out a call for help: “Cancers do not stop growing because there is a war. But cancer patients stop being seen as a priority.” The story he…
Long-term health: is it time to update the priorities of cancer research?
“I was told that cancer was a temporary condition ‒ just get through treatment and things will go back to normal. I quickly realised that this is not true.” Gregory Aune was treated for Hodgkin’s disease when he was 17.…
Preventing burnout: are we too focused on personal resilience?
Burnout. That short word barely conveys the dispirited cycle of weariness, negativity and powerlessness health staff experience when high aspirations to help and cure are consumed in an unattainable to-do list. “You're trying your best but nothing's moving and you…