Transforming cancer care: navigating the path to future innovation with early cancer detection

We are at an inflection point in oncology. One where the promise of eliminating cancer as a cause of death is closer than I ever would have imagined during my early days of training and clinical practice, yet, unless we are steadfast in addressing how to bring innovation to all, this may not be equally accessible to everyone, further widening the cancer care gaps.

Meeting this moment requires decisive action to redefine cancer care models. We need a new approach for effective cancer control that reflects and enables faster pace of application of innovative advances for improving cancer care outcomes globally. An important opportunity is the identification and application of novel methodologies that will enable for early cancer detection and can be used in a more rapid, generalized and seamless manner within health systems.

?In October, I had the opportunity to gather alongside leaders from varied cancer organizations – medical societies, patient organizations and academia – to explore how we can prepare health systems for the adoption of innovative early detection technologies and ultimately improve patient outcomes. First at the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Los Angeles, CA and next at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress, we dove into a few critical questions to unlock advancements in early cancer detection:

·?????? What are the key?challenges and opportunities for the adoption of early cancer detection tools??

·?????? What lessons, from existing cancer control efforts,?can we use to strengthen and support the next generation of cancer control plans?

·?????? How can the cancer community better?advocate for the prioritization and investment in early cancer detection research and implementation??

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Here are some of the insights and themes that emerged from the discussions:

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The time has come to set out a new, accessible vision for the future of early cancer detection.

Early detection and diagnostics care are essential for developing more precise, effective and efficient cancer treatments and transforming patient outcomes and experiences. It’s an unfortunate reality that in today’s world, most cancers are not detected through screening tests. In the US, only 14% of all cancers are detected through available screening programs. Globally, as many as 50% of cancers are currently being detected at an advanced stage, where long-term survival remains quite dismal, further widening the poorer outcomes seen with certain cancers.

One way to reduce delays in cancer diagnoses, including in advanced stage of initial diagnosis and presentation is investing in novel screening and detection technology. This can be applied for those at high-risk of developing cancer with effective data analytics of healthcare records and understanding and evaluation of patient behavior.

There must be appropriate investment and governance to ensure rapid, equitable access to innovative early detection tools. These tools, such as liquid biopsies and AI-enabled imaging, are progressing at a rapid pace, and we need to work collaboratively to prepare the health systems for generalizable adoption as the evidence emerges to support their application in routine care. Healthcare systems must be prepared to deploy these innovative technologies to detect and then treat cancers earlier.

We must enable equitable cancer care improvements through levelling-up early detection service access.

Across the globe, racial, socioeconomic and geographic factors can have a huge impact on whether someone receives timely cancer diagnosis and care. This is true for whether you live in a low- or high-income country, as inequalities endure across multiple cancer types and population groups. From my personal experience, having lived in various parts of the world throughout my life, including Africa, India, Canada and now in the US, it’s evident that no matter how different the geographic location, the need for strong policy around these issues remains the same.??

By adopting a differentiated resource-adjusted approach to the implementation of innovative early detection technologies that is borne through local learnings and solutions, we can bolster early detection services and ensure they’re equitably available within and between high-, low- and middle-income countries.?

Demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of these technologies to policymakers is key to enabling the allocation of resources and enactment of policies that prioritize early cancer detection across communities. This can be accomplished through appropriate governance and the creation of regulatory frameworks and policies that support the responsible and effective adoption of these tools.

It’s critical that we demonstrate the power of partnerships to deliver impactful early detection today.

It goes without saying that no country or leader can do this work alone. The complexity of these challenges requires partnerships among every global community affected by cancer, including patients and their loved ones, advocacy groups, healthcare professionals, healthcare institutions and governments. Only by exchanging knowledge, capabilities and best practices among these different groups of stakeholders can we make health systems more resilient and sustainable.??

We must leverage this momentum to gather learnings and best practices from different regions and accelerate collaboration across the cancer community, so that political support can be mustered.??

With that, we can also drive scrutiny of adoption and sharing of best practices and innovative early detection systems – recognizing the power of international comparison to spur political action and bring together data on adoption of available early detection technologies today. This will further highlight the importance of investment in early detection that is key to a more sustainable and resilient health system in the longer-term.

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I’ve closely followed the innovative research and technological breakthroughs that have helped revolutionize cancer diagnosis and care. Nowadays, new classes of cancer drugs are replacing traditional chemotherapy, giving patients diagnosed with both early-stage and metastatic cancers the possibility of more time.

Yet, after all that progress, cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020. To put it in perspective, in 2000, approximately 6 million people died from cancer, which means that there has been a nearly 70% increase in the global number of cancer deaths in the past 20 years or so.

With the rise of cancer incidence worldwide and novel cancer treatments coming to market, there has never been a more important time for leaders in cancer care to?recognize the need to not only implement the?next great breakthrough but also translate our?improved?understanding of cancer?into systems, services and practice. This will?in turn give the greatest possible chance of a?cure to as many patients as possible and the best chance to cure is early diagnosis and treatment.?

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I’d love to hear your own thoughts and experiences of the positive impact of prioritizing early cancer detection research and implementation, and opportunities to work together to put this into practice, ultimately giving cancer patients the hope they deserve.

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