Latin America is about to face a cancer epidemics. It is expected that 2 out of 3 individuals will be diagnosed with the disease in the coming years and over one million deaths will take place every year, according to the data published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to Dr. Carlos Barrios, Executive Director of Latin America Oncology Group – LACOG, an alternative to face such dramatic increase in the number of cancer cases – which will be the major cause of deaths in the coming decades – is the consolidation of regional centers and groups dedicated to clinical researches. “Latin America only executes 4{46cf1a6c7461ff493d31bdca70d45967bd1ce7048f85e123712b94daa5b61391} of the current worldwide clinical trials, according to assessments carried out by the US National Health Institute”, states the specialist.

Researches enable us to get acquainted with the development of the disease. The main barriers for the development of clinical researches in Latin America include lack of structure in the national and regional organizations working with cancer-related researches, the limited number of qualified and specialized individuals (for instance, statisticians, study monitors and additional operational staff), lack of public awareness about the importance of clinical researches, legal and regulatory obstacles in some countries and, most critically, the lack funds to support the investigations.

In order to face that problem, LACOG created the CURE Project. It carries out several actions, through music, arts, design, sports and events to raise awareness, educate and raise funds to support clinical researches in the fight against cancer.

“Out intent is to raise awareness about the benefits delivered by clinical researches, demystifying the fantasy that joining a clinical trials is equivalent to be a guinea pig. We want to demonstrate that CLINICAL RESEARCHES DO SAVE LIVES! Researches generate knowledge, researches are treatments, therefore researches are much more than we imagine. We need to mobilize the civil society in regards to such theme and create a culture of financial contribution and engagement with the clinical researches”, explains Fernanda Schwyter, Coordinator of the CURE Project.

Read the complete article in the magazine of the Breast International Group; its last edition is fully dedicated to Latin America and brings further information on the CURE Project.