Latin America is about to face a cancer epidemic. It is expected that for every 3 people 2 will be diagnosed with the disease in the coming years and there will be more than 1 million deaths annually, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), According to the doctor Carlos Barrios, executive director of the Latin American Cooperative Oncology Group - LACOG, one of the alternatives to face this dramatic increase in the number of cancer cases - which will be the leading cause of death in the coming decades -, is the consolidation of regional centers and groups of clinical research. “In Latin America, only 4 {46cf1a6c7461ff493d31bdca70d45967bd1ce7048f85e123712b94daa5b61391} of the global clinical studies in progress, according to surveys conducted by the National Institute of Health in the United States,” says the specialist. It is through research that knowledge is acquired about how the disease develops. The main barriers to the development of clinical research in Latin America include the lack of structure in national or regional organizations dedicated to cancer research, a limited number of qualified and specialized people (for example, statisticians, study supervisors, and other operational members), lack of public recognition of the importance of clinical research, legal and regulatory obstacles in some countries, and, critically, the lack of funding to support research. To address this problem, the CURA Project was born, a LACOG initiative. The Cura Project develops different actions, through music, art, design, sports and events to raise awareness, educate, and raise funds for scientific research in the fight against cancer. “Our intention is to make the population aware of the benefits of research, demystifying the fantasy that participating in studies is being a guinea pig. We want to show that RESEARCH SAVES LIVES! Research generates knowledge, research is treatment, in short, research is much more than we imagine. We need to mobilize society in relation to the topic and create a culture of financial contribution and engagement in scientific research,” he explains Fernanda Schwyter, coordinator of Cura.Read the full article in the Breast International Group magazine, which had its last edition entirely dedicated to Latin America and where you can learn more about the CURA PROJECT. https://www.slideshare.net/ProjetoCura/big-research-infocus-nmero-6-verso-em-portugus