Posts by tag
disparities
From social determinants to cancer outcomes: the cell biology behind the disparities
Raised levels of stress are a normal response to being diagnosed with cancer, and asking patients about their psychological and emotional wellbeing is, or should be, a normal part of attending to their quality of life. But can stress directly…
Molecular diagnostics and NGS in the clinic: where are we and where do we need to go?
The development of next generation sequencing (NGS) has been a game changer for our understanding of genetics, and in turn for many aspects of biomedicine. This includes cancer, where it has led to greater understanding of the genetic changes that…
A fair chance for women in oncology: we must all insist on change
Women are under-represented in positions of power and leadership, in scientific and health disciplines across the world. This has been widely recognised for decades, yet efforts to implement the changes required to give women a fair chance have met with…
Drugs shortages: ‘We parents of children with cancer are too exhausted to protest’
When it all started, Ioana Oprea did not have a spare moment to come to terms with what had happened ‒ to truly take in the fact that her son Teodor had a brain tumour. In the autumn of 2020,…
Surviving childhood cancer: how we standardise care across Europe
When Lejla Kameric’s daughter was treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the twelve-year-old had to get through lumbar punctures without pain relief. “15 years ago in Bosnia, painful procedures and diagnostic activities were done without anaesthesia,” Kameric recalls. “Still now, young doctors…
The right to health in Latin America: feeling worthy of cancer treatment
Inequalities influence not only access to cancer care but also patients’ perceptions of their right to choose between treatment options and their expectations of receiving quality care. Researchers evaluating how countries in the Americas design their cancer control policies have…
Decolonising cancer research: why it matters, what can be done
When cancer epidemiologist and medical doctor Nirmala Bhoo-Pathy returned to Malaysia in 2011 after completing her PhD in cancer epidemiology in the Netherlands, she hadn’t expected the move to negatively affect her research prospects. As it turns out, she was…
On a mission to beat cancer
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind – the words Neil Armstrong pronounced as he completed humankind’s first mission to the moon, will – if the European Commission gets its way – soon be pronounced for other…