Medical professionals see progress in cancer diagnosis, treatment

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS are pointing to several emerging technologies in cancer diagnosis and treatment that will be welcome by persons living with the disease. By using precision oncology, the “treatment [for cancer] is no longer a one-size-fits-all approach,” declared Dr Jamie-Lee Foote, head of the Department of Haematology in the Oncology Unit at Mandeville Regional Hospital.

She was speaking at the ninth renewal of the Carnegie Foundation for Cancer Research Lecture Series held on November 7, at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) in Mandeville as part of its Homecoming Week celebrations. The lecture was held under the theme ‘Emerging Technologies in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment’.

Dr Foote explained how understanding the genetic landscape of multiple myeloma – a blood cancer – is leading to the development of targeted therapies and transformation of patient outcomes. She also pointed out the critical need to bridge gaps in care, disparities in access to genomic testing, and overcoming barriers that prevent patients from benefiting from these groundbreaking advances.

The audience was also introduced to theranostics – “one of the most promising and exciting fields emerging and growing in cancer therapy,” according to Dr Darrion Walker, head of radiological sciences in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies.

Theranostics involves the use of radionuclide-labelled agents that specifically permit medical personnel to diagnose disease in individuals and then use identical or closely related agents to treat these diseases. However, Dr Walker noted that for the technology to successfully become a part of routine clinical practice, there must be increased and reliable availability at a reasonable cost to healthcare consumers.

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APPEAL FOR STEM CELL DONORS

There were also reports from Dr Ronald Charlton and Arthur Dunk of the Florida-based Caribbean Bone Marrow Registry. They shared with the audience the progress being made to connect patients from the Caribbean and Latin America with donors for life- saving bone marrow or stem cell transplants. The Registry is appealing to the public to become stem cell donors.

Meanwhile Dr Kasey Reid, director of the Cancer Research Unit at Northern Caribbean University (NCU) proposed the establishment of a cancer cell-line biobank at the Mandeville-based institution to store specimens from cancer patients, contributed by medical institutions in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

Such a facility, Dr Reid argued, would provide a jump start for local and regional researchers in developing treatment for cancer afflicting Afro-Caribbean people.

He said this was necessary because blacks were under-represented in clinical trials to develop medicinal drugs by manufacturers in developed countries. In North America, blacks account for only 3 percent of the people involved in clinical trials. Dr Reid emphasized the need for cancer treatment research that is responsive to the genetic make-up of peoples of African descent vis-à-vis Caucasians. He pointed out that while the genetic make-up of Caucasians is uniform across the race, this contrasts with people of African descent with unique genetic variants existing among the population in Africa, African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans.

ETHICAL ISSUES

Dr Morton Frankson, director of research and statistics at NCU, and president of the Bioethics Society of the English-Speaking Caribbean (BSEC), spoke on the topic of ‘Ethical Considerations in Terminal Illnesses’ and highlighted issues involved in caring for persons with terminal illnesses (a condition that is incurable and will likely result in death).

Ethical considerations include honouring the rights of these patients, pain management, curing of other curable conditions which such patients may develop along with their terminal illness, and issues around ensuring quality of life/care as the patient is dying.

The issue of legally and ethically addressing physician assisted dying requests of these patients was also highlighted. Dr Frankson appealed to all parties involved to respect the very important choices of upholding faith, hope and love.

Dr Cliff Riley, director general of the Hazardous Substances Regulatory Authority in Jamaica shared that environmental risk factors account for 20 per cent of cancers. He identified radon, a radioactive gas,as the second cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.

Dr Riley said radon was widespread across Jamaica and in homes, but mostly below the four picocuries per litre level to be harmful. However, he advised that householders should test to ensure the gas does not reach a harmful level. Charcoal-based radon test kits are available.

Beverly Henry, coordinator of the Carnegie Foundation for Cancer Research Lecture, said the event provided useful and valuable information to the face-to-face audience, which included NCU students studying health sciences, as well as to virtual viewers