Why Global Cancer Research Is Important

For children with cancer, survival often depends on where they live. In high-income countries, about 80% of children survive at least 5 years after their diagnosis. But 90% of children with cancer live in low- and middle-income countries, where the 5-year survival may be as low as 20%.

These differences are due to several factors, including when cancer is diagnosed, access to treatment and follow-up care, and genetic and lifestyle differences among populations.

Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, leads international efforts to improve care for children with cancer and other catastrophic conditions. He is executive vice president of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Director of its Department of Global Pediatric Medicine, and the Director of St. Jude Global.

Each year, 400,000 children develop cancer. About half of those children die without even being diagnosed. Of those who are diagnosed, more than half die because they do not have access to care.

“Clinical trials in the United States, where resources are available, have advanced care to the point where we can cure 85% of children.” Rodriguez-Galindo says, “But only a few, the lucky ones who have access to it, can be cured. As a scientific community, our goal is to improve the lives of all children with cancer.” 

Until access to care can improve, children around the world are waiting for help. The sense of urgency has never been greater. 

The need for global collaboration

Immediate global action is needed to develop and deliver effective treatments and better manage side effects and long-term effects. This requires patient participation in clinical trials and international collaboration among researchers, health care institutions, countries, and industry partners.  

International collaboration plays an important role in advancing cures for childhood cancer. High-income countries have the resources needed to do clinical trials that explore new ways to treat cancer. These studies can lead to the development of new medicines and their incorporation into standard of care, improvement in treatment strategies to increase cure and decrease toxicities and provide valuable insights into cancers that are the most difficult to treat.  

We must diagnose cancer earlier, treat it more effectively with fewer side effects, and better manage side effects when they happen.  

Future generations depend on it.

Act quickly: cancer does not wait

Julie Park, MD, leads the St. Jude Department of Oncology and oversees research and clinical trials focused on childhood cancer. She understands the many challenges of treating cancer worldwide. 

 “We must build strong relationships with our peers to identify the most important questions,” Park says. “We have to act quickly and work together to do this.” 

For Park, the urgency to collaborate is critical because cancer does not wait. 

“We need to ask the right questions and run these trials in just a few years so that we can keep moving the field forward,” she says. “That’s going to take collaboration with our global partners.” 

When countries work together toward this shared goal, they can help speed up access to new treatments that may be more effective and cause fewer harmful side effects. These advances not only improve the chances of surviving childhood cancer but may also help patients have a better quality of life during and after treatment.  

“Global clinical trials can provide valuable insights into how patients tolerate and respond to treatments and how well those treatments work,” Park says. “They also generate important clinical and biological information that can help improve cancer diagnosis, show how patients are responding to treatment, and support the development of new therapies.” 

Park thinks progress depends on a shared commitment to advance care and collaboration.  

“We must work in a way where everyone understands the purpose and benefits,” she says. “But the most important people who should benefit are the patients.” 

What we can learn from global research

A patient’s response to treatment and the management of side effects can vary in different parts of the world. The outcome depends on such factors as: 

• The stage at which the patient’s cancer was diagnosed 
• The DNA changes that led to their cancer 
• Their overall health and genetic make-up 
• How their body uses medicines 
• The care and treatments available where they live 

This experience varies across populations worldwide. 

Gathering information on cancer cases and health care delivery in specific regions helps researchers diagnose, treat, and manage pediatric cancers more effectively. Finding and delivering treatments that work for a particular place is critical for closing the cancer survival gap.  

Global studies can:  

• Reveal how genetic changes affect cancer 
• Identify ways to treat cancer in different resource areas 
• Help reduce and manage long-term side effects 

The next frontier

Preventing and treating cancer worldwide is complex. It requires a better understanding of the unique needs of patients and health centers in different parts of the world.  

Patients must have access to clinical trials, and their participation is essential. They can be part of the solution. Medical institutions and countries must work together, united in a shared goal of acting quickly, solving problems, and saving lives. 

Collaboration must happen at every level, from patients and clinicians to researchers and government agencies. 

Rodriguez-Galindo highlights 4 key reasons for global clinical trials: 

• Improve the lives of all children with cancer worldwide 
• Discover new treatments more quickly, for more types of patients 
• Learn what treatments or approaches have the most impact 
• Understand what treatment adaptations are needed to best meet the needs of different cultures and health care settings 

“This will require massive efforts of policy, advocacy, resource use, training, developing care centers, clinical trials, and clinical research,” he says. “This will be critical. We need to develop the right treatments and the right way to treat people worldwide. This is our next frontier.” 

Some ways to collaborate include: 

• Working together to ask the right questions and design studies to answer them 
• Sharing resources to support well-designed studies 
• Partnering with health care institutions, policymakers, and industry 
• Enrolling more patients in clinical trials   
• Sharing information from biological samples for study 
• Sharing research results 

Working together, saving lives

Improving childhood cancer care around the world will take commitment, teamwork, planning, participation, and creativity. But these challenges can be overcome by building strong partnerships at all levels. This effort could lead to new medical insights, new ways of delivering health care, and new treatments that may not have been possible if people worked in isolation.  

Working together to save the world’s children makes sense — the rewards of doing so could be remarkable for generations to come.