From breast to prostate cancer, the global cancer burden is unevenly distributed, but collaborations that advance technology can improve these disparities.
Thanks to significant developments in diagnosis and treatment, people with cancer are living longer and healthier lives. High-income countries have successfully invested in strategies for prevention, screening and early detection that increase the odds of patient survival.
Improvements in medical imaging are enabling clinicians to make more accurate diagnoses. Digital tools help healthcare providers analyze reports in more detail and in less time. Precision medicine is informing more personalized care plans. One promising type of precision medicine is theranostics—which, as the name suggests, combines “therapy” and “diagnostics,” fusing breakthroughs in both domains. By integrating molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy, theranostics targets cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. For diseases such as prostate cancer, these types of therapies have the potential to transform the cancer treatment experience and help improve patient outcomes.
These innovations inspire optimism for patients, but shortages of trained oncology experts, functional equipment, digital solutions and affordable essential medicines largely exclude people in low- and middle-income countries, or LMICs, from modern cancer care. Patients in these countries account for 57% of new cancer cases but more than 65% of cancer deaths. For children, the gap in cancer outcomes is especially pronounced. In high-income countries, the five-year survival rate for childhood cancers is over 80%; in LMICs, it is less than 30%.
Meanwhile, the incidence of cancer is rising worldwide. New cancer cases in countries that score low on the Human Development Index—an indicator of reduced life expectancy, educational attainment and living standards—are projected to more than double over the next 25 years, from around 800,000 in 2022 to 2 million by 2050.
The World Health Organization, observing these disparities, adopted a resolution in 2025 that encourages member states to invest in medical imaging equipment and training and to promote equitable access to imaging technology. A Lancet Oncology Commission study shows that rectifying shortages in medical imaging equipment, treatment options and quality care could prevent 9.55 million deaths from 11 common cancers over 10 years.
“Strengthening diagnosis and treatment capacity in LMICs is critical,” says Roland Rott, president and CEO of Imaging at GE HealthCare. “This requires collaborative efforts among technology providers, governments, international organizations, healthcare professionals, development banks, foundations and nongovernmental organizations to innovate. Improving access and outcomes is key to tackling the major care gaps.”
Increasing access and detection with diagnostic imaging, digital tools and AI
An important way to make cancer care more equitable is through expanding access to advanced diagnostic imaging. Among those who could benefit are patients with prostate cancer, the second-most common cancer in men (after lung cancer), with nearly 1.5 million new cases diagnosed globally in 2022.
Early detection is critical to reducing mortality from prostate cancer, by enabling timely and more effective treatment. Traditional methods for detecting prostate cancer include PSA tests, MRI and invasive biopsies. While valuable, these methods can lead to unnecessary procedures and missed diagnoses if used in isolation.
Today, healthcare professionals are advancing detection and assessment of prostate cancer using ultrasound-guided biopsy with MRI infusion. These updated techniques can help clinicians distinguish between aggressive and slow-growing tumors, enabling more targeted treatment plans. Expanding access to these capabilities could make a major difference for prostate cancer patients, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Artificial intelligence and digital health tools are transforming healthcare access in LMICs, where systemic challenges like workforce shortages, limited infrastructure and high disease burdens persist.
AI-powered solutions can enhance diagnosis, streamline clinical workflows and support remote care delivery, making healthcare more efficient and scalable. For example, the World Health Organization highlights AI’s role in disease surveillance, outbreak response and health systems management, emphasizing its potential to democratize access to care and reduce inequities.
Organizations are collaborating with providers in LMICs to co-create AI tools that empower local health workers to make more confident diagnoses and decisions. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, has awarded grants to develop AI-assisted ultrasound technology, which can enable healthcare professionals without specialized training to assess patients using ultrasound.
Digitalization, accelerated by AI, can also unlock significant cost savings by identifying higher-risk patient populations and enabling more personalized and equitable care. Many LMICs currently use only about 5% of their health data; so digitalization could save up to $11 billion in the African region alone, for example, by 2030.
Bringing theranostics to more patients
Because cross-industry collaborations are critical to advancing healthcare, a group of academic and industry representatives launched a recent large-scale effort to broaden access to theranostics in Europe. Thera4Care, a €25.3 million ($28.7 million) initiative, brings together 29 collaborators from academic and clinical sites, small and medium-sized enterprises, and patient advocacy groups.
Aided by a €14 million ($16 million) European Union grant, the collaboration aims to advance manufacturing and technology so that radiology-based diagnostics and therapies can help more patients.
GE HealthCare's team at Thera4Care
“Thera4Care is a great example of how academic and industry partners who share a common goal to strengthen supply chains, advance novel therapies, and empower clinicians with data and AI so patients everywhere can benefit from this new pillar of precision cancer care,” says Dr. Ben Newton, general manager for oncology solutions at GE HealthCare, which has a leading industry role in the consortium. “Our collective efforts are designed to improve healthcare system readiness for this rapidly growing field of precision medicine.”
Collaborating for progress in healthcare
Around the world, collaborations among companies, universities and governments are sharing practices and technology to enhance detection, diagnosis and treatment of disease. To meet the rising demand for radiological services, medical professionals are training to produce and administer radioisotopes that require careful storage and handling. Doctors build their skills in nuclear medicine to design new treatment plans and work with PET/CT and SPECT/CT scans that generate more detailed pictures of disease. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Rays of Hope program helps countries introduce nuclear medicine therapies by teaching clinicians, offering technical advice and supporting radiation safety, strengthening cancer diagnosis and treatment capacity in LMICs.
“I’m very encouraged by the progress we are already seeing under the IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative… with several leading companies such as GE HealthCare cooperating with us to address a growing cancer burden around the world,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, who launched the program in 2022. “I’m grateful for their support, which will help save lives.”
In Tanzania, where the breast cancer mortality rate is 50%, the Radiological Society of North America is bringing advanced mammography technology and training to radiologists at Muhimbili National Hospital. And in Kenya, the first public molecular imaging center opened recently at Kenyatta University Hospital, broadening precision cancer care for patients.
Training in Tanzania
In Indonesia, Dharmais National Cancer Center in West Jakarta City intends to train practitioners to produce and distribute nuclear isotopes and help clinicians across the country of 270 million people, spread over 17,000 islands, to provide care more equitably.
“By integrating nuclear medicine into cancer care, Indonesia has the potential to achieve earlier detection, more precise treatments and improved outcomes, addressing a significant barrier in the country’s healthcare system,” says Katia Katsari, oncology solutions leader, International, for GE HealthCare.
“While cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide, advances in technology are transforming the access landscape—especially in low- and middle-income countries—with solutions to increase workforce capacity, optimize workflow and deliver earlier and more accurate diagnosis,” says Mark Stoesz, president, enterprise solutions and partnerships, International, at GE HealthCare. “By combining affordable and accessible technology that fits the needs and infrastructure challenges of low- and middle-income countries, training and education for healthcare professionals, and sustainable financing for care programs—there is hope for addressing this global disease burden that affects so many.”
The World Economic Forum has outlined a vision for healthcare by 2035 that emphasizes global and cross-industry collaboration, public-private partnerships and innovative funding models.
“Collaboration between public and private sectors can enable clinicians to apply innovative research and put advances in cancer treatment into practice,” Stoesz adds. “We can achieve this vision of more equitable care by using resources efficiently and sharing expertise, giving more people with cancer a real chance of survival and the chance at a brighter future.”
