大象传媒

"CCBIO are doing聽impressive research, they are at the level of the best in the USA", says cancer researcher聽Marsha Moses. She is聽from Harvard Medical School and聽world leading in聽her聽field - cancer detecting biomarkers in urine.

Battle by聽battle in the war against cancer

Moses is one of more than聽200 cancer researchers gathered at Solstrand Hotel outside Bergen聽at the CCBIO聽Annual Symposium. The meeting聽serves as breeding ground for sharing knowledge on聽biomarkers, or the聽unique fingerprint of tumors. By studying them, we can learn more and more about how the different types of cancer develops, what causes tumors to grow - and not least, what is the most effective and聽tailored treatment method.

"Meeting like this is very important for us as cancer researchers to keep updated", says CCBIO Director聽Lars A. Akslen.

"To be able to win the war against cancer, battle by battle, we need to collaborate with the best in their fields. Meeting points like this are聽crucial to establish new networks and form new research collaborations. That is a great way to聽improve ourselves and learn more. You know, we do research on the microenvironment of tumors and what that means to the development of the diseases. Without making further聽comparisons, this meeting can be seen as聽CCBIO's microenvironment", he smiles.

Akslen is concerned with new thinking, also in research.

"We聽should never stop thinking outside the box. Researchers all over the world聽will beat cancer by聽pushing ourselves ahead. We must聽cooperate, and we will see results. And we need to combine established, solid research methods by thinking new thoughts".

Pee on a stick聽- are you cancer free?

One who has dared to think outside the box, is Professor Marsha Moses from聽Harvard. She investigates聽protein markers in urine. The aim聽is to be able to diagnose cancer at a very eary stage.

"Even the less good聽drugs can聽function well against cancer, when taken early enough", she explains. 聽

"But eventually it will be too late. That's how it started for our part, we wanted to find methods to reveal cancer at an early stage. We found that protein聽in urine is a goldmine to find biomarkers. And taking a urine sample is so simple and painless, Moses explains. She is leader of the Vascular Biology Program at聽Boston Children鈥檚 Hospital.

Marsha Moses and her team are聽already in progress of commercialising the cancer tests.

"I am optimistic about this field, and I am certain that we in the future will be able to use urine samples to check for cancer at an early stage. That will have a major impact on society's health costs", she says.

Follow the money

Costs have in recent years become an issue in cancer treatment. Due to extensive research, more and more effective drugs have been developed. But they are costly, even for one of the world's richest countries. Giving聽someone more of the pie, will inevitably lead to less for聽other groups.

John Cairns from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is affiliated to CCBIO as their expert in health economics. He also made the trip to Solstrand today.

"It is a聽fact that health budgets are聽not inexhaustible, even in Norway", he says.聽

"That is why these debates will be more frequent in the time to come. Everyone can symphatize聽that it is devastating to be diagnosed with a fatal disease, to know there are drugs out there that can give you a chance to live on, only to be denied access to it because the government has not approved use of the drug.聽It is easy to understand that people get聽outraged. Nevertheless, most will also understand that other patient groups need money for treatment. And most people are usually concerned with聽more isssues聽than melanoma, they would also like to have better roads, more emphasis on good schools, lower taxes, that sort.聽

The problem is naturally that those who can afford it,聽always will have access to the most expensive and聽effective cancer drugs, leaving the rest to make do with the second best. Not many would prefer such a society, I think. So you see, there are many things to consider聽when it comes to the public spending of money and cancer treatment".

Cairns' research focus is how biomarkers can improve the cost-effectiveness of cancer treatment.

"We hope to be able to map a patient's biomarkers to identify the correct treatment for the specific cancer type of the individual patient. Then we would avoid much time and resources spent on trial and error", he explains.

"Biomarkers may be the gateway to more and better cancer treatment for our聽money. We are at the threshold, and I am eager to see the continuation of this", Cairns concludes.聽聽 聽

Now there is a break in the program, and dedicated researchers are gathering in small groups outside.聽They are squinting against the sun and eagerly discussing. Laughter is frequently heard and coffee cups are clattering. Even generals in the war against cancer occasionally need reconnaissance interspersed with sunshine and birdsong.