A new study released to coincide with World Cancer Research Day today argues that wider access to clinical trials of new cancer treatments is one of the best ways to save lives from the disease.

The study found that biopharma industry spending on clinical trial research and development exceeds $80 billion a year, but participation is limited to below five percent of cancer patients due to a combination of regulatory, patient-level, and physician- and site-level barriers.

”Advancing global health equity is not only the right thing to do, but a business strategy in an otherwise unsustainable global ecosystem for oncology R&D,” says Dr. Bob T. Li, Vice President Global Research Affairs at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who was the study’s corresponding author.

China leads the world in cancer burden with more than three million cancer deaths annually, followed by the United States and India. Breast cancer is the most common form of diagnosed cancer, though lung cancer is the top source of cancer death.

The study was released by the Asia Society’s Cure4Cancer, whose partners include Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Forbes China, as well as the McKinsey Cancer Center and the Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition. Report suggestions include the development of leapfrogging technologies such as liquid biopsy, international data sharing, and wider participation of community clinics to improve access to new treatments. It also targets industry investment for wider access and education about trials in low- and middle-income countries.

This publication calling for more inclusive global collaboration on clinical trials comes just after President Joe Biden launched the Quad Cancer Moonshot over the weekend with Australia Prime Minister Albanese, India Prime Minister Modi and Japan Prime Minister Kishida.

“The fight against cancer is a global movement that belongs to all of humanity, and international collaboration is key to ending cancer as a major cause of death in this lifetime,” Australian Ambassador to the U.S. and former Asia Society CEO Dr. Kevin Rudd said in a statement.

World Cancer Research Day was founded in 2016 to help reduce premature deaths from cancer and improve cancer survival rates. It is backed by 10 coordinating organizations: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), Associazione Italiana per la Recerca sul Cancro (AIRC), Cancer Research UK (CRUK), European Association for Cancer Research (EACR), European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), National Institutes of Health (NIH)—National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).

U.S.-China Politics Hurt Fight Against A Common Enemy: Cancer (forbes.com)

“Fundamentally Wrong”: Less Than 5% Of Cancer Patients Get Access To Clinical Trials (forbes.com)