Research and Publications

Advancing evidence. Informing practice. Improving lives.

Global Focus on Cancer is committed to generating, translating, and implementing evidence that advances people-centered and equitable cancer care. We work in partnership with people with lived experience, researchers, healthcare professionals, governments, and international organizations to strengthen supportive care, health systems, and implementation in real-world settings.

Our research focuses on translating evidence into practice. Through international collaborations, we contribute to the evidence base while supporting approaches that can be adapted, implemented, and sustained across diverse health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

The publications featured below represent selected highlights of our work and collaborations. Together, they reflect Global Focus on Cancer’s commitment to advancing evidence that informs policy, strengthens health systems, and improves the lives of people affected by cancer.

Areas of Research

People-Centered Care
People-centered care recognizes that high-quality healthcare is grounded in the needs, values, preferences, and lived experiences of the people it serves. Our research explores how people-centered approaches can be measured, implemented, and embedded within cancer care and health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Redefining priorities: a call for patient-centred cancer care and research
Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology (2024)

Brief summary: This invited commentary presents a vision for reorienting cancer research and care around people-centered principles. It argues that the experiences, priorities, and expertise of people affected by cancer should inform research, policy, and practice, and calls for a renewed commitment to care that is responsive to the needs and values of individuals, families, and communities.
Why it matters: People-centered care improves the relevance, quality, and real-world implementation of cancer care.Read article →

Patient-centred care: a scoping review of measures of patient centredness in healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
eCancer (2026)

Brief summary: This scoping review examines how people-centered care has been measured across healthcare settings in low- and middle-income countries. It identifies existing measurement tools, highlights important gaps, and provides recommendations to strengthen evaluation and implementation.
Why it matters: Meaningful measurement is essential for understanding whether health systems are becoming more people-centered and for guiding future improvement.Read article →

Operationalizing patient-centered cancer care in low- and middle-income countries
Cell Reports Medicine (2024)

Brief Summary: This paper examines how the principles of people-centered care can be translated into practice in low- and middle-income countries. It proposes practical strategies for implementing people-centered approaches that are responsive to local contexts while strengthening health systems and improving care experiences.
Why it matters: People-centered care must be adapted to diverse settings if it is to improve equity and health outcomes globally. Read article →

Peer Support & Supportive Care
Supportive care is an essential component of quality cancer care, yet access remains limited in many parts of the world. Our research focuses on developing, adapting, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based supportive care interventions that respond to the psychosocial, informational, practical, and relational needs of people affected by cancer. Much of this work has centered on the development and implementation of the Stronger Together peer support program and broader efforts to strengthen supportive care globally.

Evaluation of the Stronger Together Peer Mentoring Model Among Patients With Breast and Gynecologic Cancer in Viet Nam
JCO Global Oncology (2024)

Brief Summary: This implementation study evaluated the Stronger Together peer mentoring model among women with breast and gynecologic cancers in Viet Nam. The findings demonstrated improvements in psychosocial well-being and quality of life while providing evidence that a culturally adapted peer support program can be successfully integrated into routine cancer care.
Why it matters: This study provides evidence that peer support is an effective, scalable, and sustainable intervention that can strengthen supportive care in resource-constrained settings. Read article →

Supportive care interventions for cancer patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): a scoping review
Supportive Care in Cancer (2022)

Brief Summary: This scoping review examined the availability and characteristics of supportive care interventions across low- and middle-income countries. It identified important gaps in access to psychosocial and supportive care services and highlighted opportunities to strengthen supportive care as an essential component of comprehensive cancer care.
Why it matters: Understanding the existing evidence is the first step toward expanding equitable access to supportive care worldwide. Read article →

Culture matters: adapting supportive programs for cancer patients in low- and middle-income countries
Supportive Care in Cancer (2022)

Brief Summary: This paper explores the importance of cultural adaptation when implementing supportive care interventions across diverse settings. Drawing on lessons from the development of the Stronger Together peer support program, it outlines practical considerations for adapting programs while maintaining fidelity to their core functions.
Why it matters: Supportive care interventions are most effective when they are culturally relevant and responsive to local contexts. Read article →

Supportive Care 2030 Movement: Towards Unifying Ambitions for Global Excellence in Supportive Cancer Care—An International Delphi Study
eClinicalMedicine (2024)

Brief Summary: Using a modified Delphi process, this study developed 13 shared ambition statements for the future of supportive cancer care. The statements address areas including coordinated and individualized care, supportive oncology services, needs assessment, self-management, education, financial impact, survivorship, and palliative care. They are intended to guide clinical practice, research, education, and policy across diverse resource settings.
Why it matters: These shared ambitions provide a global foundation for coordinated, resource-stratified, and people-centered efforts to strengthen supportive cancer care. Read article →

Still Lost in Transition? A 20-Year Reflection on Cancer Survivorship Care
Journal of Clinical Oncology (2026)

Brief Summary: Twenty years after the landmark Lost in Transition report, this article assesses progress against its 10 recommendations, identifies persistent gaps, and proposes priorities for the next phase of survivorship reform. Drawing on international perspectives, it examines areas including awareness, care planning, guidelines, quality measurement, models of care, education, employment, insurance, and research.
Why it matters: Despite greater recognition of survivorship and substantial growth in research and guidance, consistent implementation remains limited. Progress will require coordinated, whole-of-health-system approaches that address the medical, functional, psychosocial, and practical consequences of cancer and its treatment. Read article →

Developing a Practice Framework for Patient Navigation in Cancer Care: A Global Initiative to Advance Cancer Navigation for Better Outcomes (GINO) Project
eClinicalMedicine (2026)

Brief Summary: This international collaboration developed a practice framework to guide the implementation of patient navigation across diverse healthcare settings. The framework defines the core functions of navigation while allowing flexibility for adaptation to local health systems, helping organizations integrate navigation into routine cancer care.
Why it matters:Clarifying what patient navigation involves can help healthcare organizations design or standardize services, determine staffing and training needs, and make decisions about funding and resources. Read article →

Meaningful Engagement
People with lived experience bring essential knowledge that strengthens research, policy, and health system design. Our work explores approaches to meaningful engagement that move beyond consultation toward equitable partnerships, where lived experience informs priorities, implementation, evaluation, and decision-making throughout the research and policy process.

The Role of Civil Society in the Implementation of the Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI) Framework: Takeaways from Southeast Asia
Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (2024)

Brief Summary: This paper examines how civil society organizations contribute to implementing the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative across Southeast Asia. Drawing on regional experience, it highlights the critical role of partnerships, advocacy, and community engagement in translating global frameworks into national action.
Why it matters: Meaningful engagement of civil society is essential for successful implementation and sustainable health system change. Read article →

Global Equity in Clinical Trials: An ASCO Policy Statement
JCO Global Oncology (2024)

Brief Summary: This ASCO policy statement examines the profound global inequities in access to and representation in cancer clinical trials, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It identifies barriers related to funding, research infrastructure, workforce capacity, regulation, trial design, and international collaboration, and presents recommendations for strengthening more equitable global cancer research.
Why it matters: More equitable participation in clinical trials can improve the relevance and validity of cancer research, strengthen research capacity, and help ensure that advances in cancer care benefit diverse populations worldwide. Read article →

Gender Equity & Cancer
Gender influences every stage of the cancer continuum, from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and policy. Our research examines how gender, power, and social determinants shape cancer experiences and outcomes, while identifying opportunities to create more equitable cancer systems for women and other underserved populations.

Women, Power, and Cancer: A Lancet Commission
The Lancet (2023)

Brief Summary: This landmark Commission examines how gender and power influence cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research, leadership, and policy worldwide. Through a multidisciplinary and international lens, it identifies structural inequities affecting women across the cancer continuum and presents recommendations to advance gender equity in cancer care and control.
Why it matters: Achieving equitable cancer outcomes requires addressing the social, economic, and political factors that shape women’s experiences and opportunities throughout the cancer continuum. Read article →

A Proposed Framework for Monitoring and Evaluating Progress at the Intersection of Women, Power, and Cancer
The Lancet (2025)

Brief Summary: Building on the Lancet Commission, this paper proposes a monitoring and evaluation framework to measure progress toward greater gender equity in cancer. The framework provides practical indicators that can be used to assess change across research, policy, leadership, workforce participation, and cancer outcomes.
Why it matters: Measuring progress is essential to understanding whether commitments to gender equity are leading to meaningful and lasting change. Read article →

The Global Burden of Women’s Cancers: A Grand Challenge in Global Health
The Lancet (2017)

Brief Summary: This paper highlights the growing global burden of women’s cancers and calls for coordinated international action to reduce inequities in prevention, early detection, treatment, and survival. It emphasizes the need for stronger health systems, greater investment, and global collaboration to improve outcomes for women worldwide.
Why it matters: Women’s cancers represent one of the greatest global health challenges, requiring sustained investment, innovation, and international collaboration. Read article →

Collaborate With Us

Advancing people-centered cancer care requires collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and countries. Global Focus on Cancer partners with academic institutions, healthcare organizations, governments, professional societies, civil society organizations, and funders to develop, implement, evaluate, and scale evidence-based approaches that improve cancer care in real-world settings.

We are particularly interested in collaborations focused on:

• People-centered care
• Peer support and supportive care
• Implementation research
• Meaningful engagement of people with lived experience
• Health systems strengthening
• Gender equity and cancer
• Capacity building and knowledge translation

Whether you are seeking a research partner, implementation collaborator, technical advisor, or opportunities for co-design and evaluation, we welcome conversations about working together to advance equitable, people-centered cancer care.

To explore collaboration opportunities, please contact us at info@globalfocusoncancer.org or use our Contact Form.

Many of our publications are available through open-access journals. Where articles are behind journal paywalls, we provide plain-language summaries to help make the research accessible to a wider audience.