Grants will help improve cancer care in low- and middle-income countries

The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) has announced the five recipients of the 2015 International Innovation Grant. This grant supports novel and innovative projects that may improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer in low- and middle-income countries. For 2015, the one-year grants of up to $20,000 will support novel projects in India, Mexico, Nigeria, Romania, and Uganda.

Approximately two-thirds of cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where five-year survival rates are lower than in high-income countries.¹ By reducing barriers to cancer control, these projects have the potential to reduce the cancer burden in the local communities where the grantees live and work, as well as in other low- or middle-income settings.

“The development of novel, resource appropriate, sustainable, and transferrable programs aimed at improving cancer control in low- and middle- [income countries] is the mission of the Conquer Cancer Foundation International Innovation Grants. The research studies proposed by the five awardees are perfect exemplars of this mission,” said International Innovation Grant Subcommittee Chair Matthew D. Galsky, MD.

The recipients of the 2015 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO International Innovation Grants are:

College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (Nigeria)

Principal Investigator: Olutosin Alaba Awolude, MBBS, MS

Cervical cancer screening techniques, suchas visual inspection with acetic acid, are often not accessible to patients in developing countries, including Nigeria, due to a shortage of trained nurses and midwives, especially in hard-to-reach communities. Based on the success of HIV programs in Africa, Dr. Awolude will implement community-level intervention strategies to recruit and train local health providers to prevent, detect, and treat cervical cancer.

Hutchinson Centre Research Institute of Uganda (Uganda)

Principal Investigator: Noleb Mugume Mugisha, MPH, MBChB

Dr. Mugisha will conduct a nine-month pilot studyto test the impact and acceptability of an integrated cervical screening programon identifying early-stage invasive cervical cancer in a high-volume HIV clinic in Kampala, Uganda. By coordinating efforts between traditionally siloed HIV and cancer care programs, this innovative study will evaluate the success of offering cervical cancer screening services in HIV clinics overseen by cancer specialists.

Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán (Mexico)

Principal Investigator: Yanin Chávarri Guerra, MD, MSc

Mexican women with breast cancer presentat more advanced stages than those in developed countries due to delays in diagnosis and limited access to information. By implementing a breast-health educational program for rural adolescents, Dr. Chávarri Guerra hypothesizes that such a program will increase knowledge of breast health and promote help-seeking behaviors.

Tata Medical Center (India)

Principal Investigator: Tanuj Chawla, MD, MBBS

More than one million patients are diagnosed with cancer in India each year, and most of them experience toxicity during chemotherapy, for which they must travel long distances to receive help. Dr. Chawla hypothesizes that Short Message Service (SMS) alerts may improve chemotherapy protocol compliance and reduce toxicity in patients. The first of its kind in a developing country, Dr. Chawla’s randomized controlled trial will test the success of a text-message intervention on reducing emergency room visits, among other indicators, for patients who are beginning a chemotherapy regimen.

The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta” (Romania)

Principal Investigator: Alexandru E. Eniu, MD, PhD

Despite having access to many standard therapies for breast cancer, patients in Romania have worse outcomes than patients in developed countries who receive the same treatments. Dr. Eniu plans to implement a telemedicine web-based platform that will enable an experienced multidisciplinary breast tumor board to review cases and improve treatment decisions for patients in small, remote cancer centers.

The 2015 International Innovation Grants were made possible by the generous support of ASCO International, AstraZeneca, and Roche. This list is current as of December 19, 2014.

Reference
1. Patel JD, Galsky MD, Chagpar AB, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29:3097-3102.