Globally by 2030, it is predicted that there will be 24 million new cancer cases per year, with 75% of cancer deaths occurring in the developing world. Baozhou Sun, PhD, associate professor of radiation oncology at the School of Medicine, Institute for Public Health faculty scholar and Global Health Center collaborator, and teams of university and global partners are working to bring advanced radiation therapy treatments (RT) to underserved parts of the globe.

Mongolia

Cancer has become a major public health problem in Mongolia as it accounts for more than 25% of all deaths. Of its 6,000 cancer patients diagnosed in 2020, due to lack of access and other factors, only 13% of patients were treated with radiation therapy (RT). Currently, the National Cancer Center of Mongolia (NCCM) is the country’s only RT center.

Department of Radiation Oncology team at the National Cancer Center of Mongolia, top left, Erdenekhuu Nansalmaa, General Director; Enkhtsetseg Vanchinbazar, Chief Medical Physicist and Minjmaa Minjgee, Head, Department of Radiation Oncology; Global Health Center Manager, Jacaranda van Rheenen, top right; School of Medicine Associate Professor, Baozhou Sun, bottom left; and Global Health Center co-Director, Victor Davila-Roman gather for a project call

In collaboration with WashU’s Department of Radiation Oncology, the Global Health Center, and NCCM, Sun’s team is using a grant from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, to bring advanced types of radiation treatment to Mongolia’s cancer patients, and training to its staff. NCCM will be introduced to a rapid deployment and efficient quality assurance of advanced radiotherapy system developed at WashU called RACER, which will help streamline patient data collection, improve efficiencies in the process of cancer treatment delivery, and automate and standardize quality assurance processes. Sun says the goal is to bring this type of state-of-the-art treatment and technology to other lower- and middle-income countries. For Mongolia, it is essential. “This project will significantly enhance NCCM’s capabilities to increase RT delivery to a larger number of patients with improved quality, helping to bridge a major health care gap,” says Sun.