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(Reuters Health) – According to a US study, many of the most common and deadly cancers are receiving the least money from fund-raising research groups, particularly cancers badociated with stigmatized behaviors such as smoke and drink.
Cancers of the colon, endometrium, liver and bile ducts, cervix of the uterus, ovaries, pancreas and lung were all poorly funded compared to the number of people who had cancer. they affect and the number of deaths that they cause, according to the study. In contrast, bad cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and pediatric cancers were all fairly well funded, relative to their impact on society.
Part of the inadequacy may be due to the fact that nonprofit organizations must appeal to donors, said Dr. Suneel Kamath, lead author of the study.
"Donors to the general public ask," Why do I fund research to find a cure for a disease that people have inflicted on themselves? If they die, it's their fault, "said Kamath, who did the job at Northwestern Feinberg University. School of Medicine in Chicago. "I'm going to target my money on a disease that affects" good people "who have a" healthy life "and just have bad luck."
Although previous research has examined which types of cancer have the largest government research funding, this study is the first to look at non-profit funding, Kamath said.
The researchers point out that cancer-related patient advocacy organizations play an important role in funding medical research, educating patients and their families, and influencing health policies, noted the researchers in the Journal of the National Network of Cancer Control.
The underfunding of these common cancers could have a negative impact on research, drug development and the number of drug approvals by the FDA for poorly funded cancers, they warned.
For the study, the researchers looked at the 2015 tax slips for all non-profit organizations in the United States that support all types of cancer with annual revenues of at least $ 5 million.
The badysis focused on 119 organizations for a total annual business turnover of $ 5.98 billion. More than three-quarters of these revenues, $ 4.59 billion, were donated to cancer charities, such as the American Cancer Society, that did not focus on one disease.
The researchers compared the number of dedicated organizations and the amount of income for each type of cancer with the number of new cases, the number of deaths and the number of years of life lost for this cancer, in order to to determine if the amount of funding for each cancer was proportional to its frequency. or mortal it is.
The cancers with the largest number of advocacy and highest income generating organizations are bad cancer, with 33 dedicated organizations and revenues of $ 460 million; pediatric cancers, with 33 organizations and revenues of $ 117 million; and leukemia, with only 4 dedicated organizations but revenues of $ 201 million. These were all well funded in terms of their impact in terms of the number of cases and deaths.
Underfunded cancers were generally badociated with stigmatized behaviors, including liver tumors (related to alcohol consumption) and cervical cancer (linked to a badually transmitted virus). Cervical cancer, for example, accounted for only $ 5.4 million, while liver tumors accounted for only $ 5.8 million. Every illness has just one dedicated advocacy organization.
Cancers without a non-profit organization specific to a $ 5 million disease included kidney, bladder, stomach and esophageal cancers.
The main limitation of the study is that much of the nonprofit funding goes to general cancer organizations, making it difficult to know where much of the funding for research is going. could be affected, notes the study team.
The non-profit organizations included in the badysis included advocacy organizations supported by patient groups, pharmaceutical companies, and large foundations conducting research studies. Ethan Basch, director of cancer effects research at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, said Dr. Ethan Basch.
"It has been hypothesized that cancers related to health-related behaviors, such as smoking or substance abuse, may be less well-perceived in funding, but this claim is not supported by influx." Substantial funding in lung cancer research, which clearly meets scientific and medical needs. , not by social bias, "said Basch, who was not involved in the study.
SOURCE: bit.ly/32GU8kK Journal of the National Cancer Control Network, available online July 18, 2019.
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