The Screenings Saving Lives in Rural Guatemala

Often it is faster and easier to harvest molecules for medical purposes from nature than to make them in a laboratory. A scientist is looking for cancer-fighting molecules in coral and sponges in the tropical Pacific.

The human papillomavirus is a primary cause of cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine has reduced the rate of infection by half in recent years among teenagers. However, the vaccine has still encountered resistance by some social conservatives.

Two major pharmaceutical companies are offering discount cancer drugs in some African countries in an initiative modeled on the aids campaign. In African countries access to cancer treatment is scarce due to high prices of medicine, lack of medical staff and equipment and lack of awareness about the disease among the population; leading to higher death rates than in the developed world. The partnership to combat this also includes the American Cancer Society and IBM who are working to simplify cancer treatment guidelines and to make them available as an online tool to any hospital with an internet connection

In Chicago, the disparity in mortality rates between white and black women who contracted breast cancer was once disturbingly high, one of the worst in the nation . But ten years of fostering partnerships between the city and groups like the Metropolitan Chicago Breast Cancer Task Force has helped make Chicago a leader in creating more equal access to services like mammograms, support groups, and assistance with open enrollment for health care.

Launched in September 2017, Cognoma is a database of information regarding the genetic makeup of cancerous tumors developed in collaboration between University of Pennsylvania researchers and Philadelphia’s tech community. Looking for a way to help their community and convinced of the value of the project, people donated their time and coding talents and built the database piece by piece. The database—as well as the programming behind it—are publicly available for researchers to utilize and adapt to other ends.

A new app and scope that attaches to a smartphone camera has the capability to photograph a woman's cervix in high definition and send the photo to clinicians for diagnosis. This device replaces previously very expensive machines that takes similar photos and allows clinics in remote or underserved areas to access the same level of care as patients with more access to healthcare. Additionally, the app stores all of these photos in its database and is actively developing its own diagnostic tools so that in the future, the app can even help physicians to diagnose cervical cancer.

As the cost of care and medication continues to rise, many people find themselves underinsured and unprotected from a financial crisis when facing a medical emergency or ongoing treatment for a chronic disease. To address this issue, programs are working to assist people with paying for the costs of care and avoiding bankruptcy based on diagnosis, employment history, or individual pleas on crowdfunding sites. While these programs can make an impact, the need is much larger than the funding available and it is often difficult for patients to find and apply for these funds.

Multi-faceted efforts are being used by Chicago health providers to raise HPV vaccination rates. In the primary care practice, providers are using workflow tools such as flagging patient records in the appropriate age range when they come to the office and having multiple providers remind patients and families about vaccination. School-based clinics are taking advantage of being geographically co-located with their patients by texting students to make sure they come to the clinic for their vaccinations. Additionally, an awareness campaign was launched on radio and TV.

In order to address racial disparities in breast cancer survival rates, the Chicago-based Metropolitan Breast Cancer Task Force initiated a program to provide African American women with navigators. These navigators—who are a trained peer from the community rather than a credentialed professional—provide assistance with booking appointment, accessing services, and conversation with providers as well as emotional support. After 10 years of this program, the disparity has decreased 20%.

CIMAvax, a new lung cancer treatment based in Cuba, has proved to stop and reduce the growth of tumors. Although it's not FDA regulated, many Americans are turning to the therapeutic drug in hopes of reducing the effects of cancer.