A high profile global initiative to tackle cancer called ‘Cancer Moonshot’ will be announced during the Quad summit. Before that, a special cancer genome atlas has been released for cancer of India. Experts who created the cancer atlas say that till now all cancer treatments were based on Western datasets. This has led to complications. India has the third highest number of cancer cases after the US and China.
The release of the Cancer Genome Atlas of India is timely, as the number of cancer cases in India is likely to increase from 1.46 million in 2022 to 1.57 million in 2025, according to estimates by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The Quad summit in Philadelphia will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Global security will be high on the agenda, but the threat of cancer is also not being ignored.
The Cancer Moonshot is a special program being led by Mr Biden and the US First Lady. The White House says it is building a world where the word cancer will lose its power, a diagnosis will not be a death sentence, and cancer will be stopped before it starts.
It says, “We find cancer early so people can live longer and healthier lives, and so patients and families do not have to deal with cancer alone. The aim is to prevent over four million cancer deaths by 2047 and improve the experience of people affected by cancer.”
The Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) aims to transform cancer research and treatment for the Indian population. Historically, cancer treatment in India has been based on Western data sets. However, cancers in Indian patients can differ significantly at the molecular level.
ICGA’s mission is to create Indian-specific datasets to help researchers and clinicians develop personalized treatment protocols. This new open-access portal is an important step towards revolutionizing cancer research, especially for Indian patients.
Currently, the platform includes data from 50 breast cancer patients, with plans to expand it to over 500 patients in the coming year. Experts suggest that in 2022, India will see 1.92 lakh cases of breast cancer, accounting for 26.6 per cent of all cancer cases, along with 98,337 deaths, accounting for 13.7 per cent of all cancer-related deaths.
The Indian Cancer Genome Atlas (ICGA) is a national initiative focused on mapping cancers across India, supported by a foundation formed by over 50 clinicians, researchers, and data analysts. Its mission is to enhance cancer diagnosis and treatment for Indian patients and contribute to the global understanding of cancer biology.
Professor Shekhar C. Mande, former Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and currently a Senior Professor at Savitribai Phule Pune University, said the open access dataset would lead to transformational breakthroughs in cancer treatment.
Mr. Mande added, “Making this invaluable cancer data publicly accessible is a critical step in accelerating scientific discoveries and improving patient outcomes. By openly sharing this data, we are empowering researchers, clinicians and innovators to collaborate, explore new frontiers and pursue transformational breakthroughs in cancer treatment.”
India has a high burden of cancers related to the digestive system; oral and lung cancers, which are mainly related to tobacco use; cervical cancer is on the rise and breast cancer is also on the rise.
