Fighting cancer around the world against tremendous odds

By Dr. Corey Casper, Co-Director of  UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance

Last year, Joanne Silberner, a veteran health reporter and Seattleite, traveled with me to Uganda as part of her journey to three countries on three continents to meet people fighting cancer against tremendous odds.

While there, she toured the Uganda Cancer Institute, where we discussed Fred Hutch’s breakthrough research for infection-related cancers to develop more effective treatment and prevention regimens.

Dr. Corey Casper

We also chatted about the work my team has done to improve the clinical capacity at the Uganda Cancer Institute, and our training program, which educates Ugandan clinicians and support staff to sustain cancer research in Uganda and enhance clinical care.

Our involvement in Uganda is one of the reasons why I’m excited to share PRI’s The World’s new series, “Cancer’s New Battleground: The Developing World.” It will feature both Dr. Jackson Orem of the Uganda Cancer Institute and the work my team from the Hutchinson Center Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division is doing in Uganda to prevent infection-related cancers.

Together, we formed the UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance in order to research infection-related cancers and to improve cancer care in Uganda—and on a global scale. Since up to one quarter of all cancer worldwide is caused by infections, finding a cure for infection-related cancers is a high-impact strategy for improving global health.

The series will air on PRI’s The World on December 3-7 and includes a Global Cancer Facebook chat this Wednesday.

The program will feature segments about the challenges faced by Dr. Orem and the UCI on Dec. 3, and then discuss infection-related cancers with me on Thursday. You’ll be able to ask me questions in real time during the Facebook chat at noon PST on The World’s Facebook event page.

You can also join the ongoing Twitter discussion through the PRI’s website. You can find when your local station airs PRI’s The World at this link.

Stay tuned for another post on Wednesday where I’ll dive deeper into exactly what Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is doing in Uganda to try to eliminate infection-related cancers.

Dr. Corey Casper is a Co-Director of  UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance and the Medical Director of Infection Control for Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is also an associate member of Fred Hutch’s vaccine and infectious disease, public health sciences and clinical research divisions, and an associate professor of medicine, epidemiology and global health at the University of Washington.