Plenary Session - Delivering Cancer Care Worldwide: Current Realities and Future Strategies

The global cancer burden is escalating at an unprecedented pace. As the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) projects more than 35 million new cancer cases annually by 2050—a nearly 77% increase compared with 2022.¹ This increase in cancer cases will disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where patients already experience worse outcomes due to later-stage diagnoses and higher case fatality rates.² Many health systems remain underprepared to address the needs of the worldwide cancer burden.

1. International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization. Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Tomorrow. Lyon, France: IARC; 2025.
2. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021 May;71(3):209-249. doi: 10.3322/caac.21660. Epub 2021 Feb 4. PMID: 33538338.World Economic Forum. Closing the Cancer Divide: An Equity Imperative. Geneva: WEF; 2023.

Target Audience

This program is designed to meet the educational needs of physicians/oncologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other health care professionals who manage patients with cancer.

Learning Objectives

Following this activity, participants should be able to: 

  • Describe the current global cancer landscape and the implications for clinical practice and health systems. 
  • Identify strategies to facilitate access to cancer care globally in the current health care environment.
  • Discuss opportunities for collaboration among oncology stakeholders worldwide to reduce disparities and improve outcomes of care. 
Additional information
Supporters: 

This educational activity is supported by educational grants from: AstraZeneca; Exact Sciences; Johnson & Johnson; Novartis; PharmaEssentia; Puma Biotechnology; Recordati Rare Disease Inc.; Revolution Medicines; Sirtex; Taiho Oncology, Inc.

This educational activity is supported by independent medical educational grants from: AbbVie; ADC Therapeutics; GSK

Supported by independent educational grants from: Blue Earth Diagnostics; Daiichi Sankyo; Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA

This activity is supported by an independent medical educational grant from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

This educational activity is supported by a medical education grant from Exelixis, Inc.

This project has been made possible in part by a grant from Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company. 

Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.25 AAPA Category 1 CME credit
  • 1.25 ACPE contact hours
  • 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 1.25 ANCC contact hours
  • 1.25 Participation
Course opens: 
06/15/2026
Course expires: 
03/01/2027
Part of: 
Recorded Presentations from the NCCN 2026 Annual Conference

Moderator

Nadeem R. Abu-Rustum, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
 
Panelists
 
Kunuz Abdella, MD, MSc
Federal Ministry of Health-Ethiopia; African Cancer Coalition (ACC) Secretariat
 
Anu K. Agrawal, MD
American Cancer Society
 
Kanan Alshammari, MBChB
Ministry of National Guard – Health Affairs
 
Carolyn Taylor
Global Focus on Cancer
 
NCCN Continuing Education Disclosure Policy

It is the policy of NCCN that all planners, faculty, moderators, authors, reviewers and anyone involved in the planning and delivery of NCCN continuing education activities are expected to disclose ALL financial relationships they have had in the past 24 months with ineligible companies. The ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence require that individuals who refuse to provide this information will be disqualified from involvement in the planning and implementation of accredited continuing education presented by NCCN. NCCN identifies, mitigates and discloses to learners all relevant financial relationships.

In addition, all content has been reviewed to ensure education promotes safe, effective patient care and does not promote the products or services of an ineligible company. Content, including any presentation of therapeutic options, is fair, balanced, evidence-based, scientifically accurate, and free of commercial bias and marketing. 

Defifitions  

Ineligible Company: An ineligible company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. 

Relevant Financial Relationships: Financial relationships of any dollar amount occurring within the past 24 months are defined as relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of an ineligible company. There is no minimum financial threshold. We ask for disclosure of ALL financial relationships with ineligible companies, regardless of the amount and regardless of the potential relevance of each relationship to the education.

Faculty Disclaimers  

All faculty for this continuing education activity are competent in the subject matter and qualified by experience, training, and/or preparation for the tasks and methods of delivery. Faculty presentations may include discussion of off-label use. Faculty will disclose that the use in question is not currently approved by the FDA per the product labeling or marketing.

Faculty Disclosures

The faculty listed below have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Kunuz Abdella, MD, MSc
Kanaan Alshammari, MBChB 
Carolyn Taylor

The faculty listed below have the following relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose. All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated. 

Nadeem R. Abu-Rustum, MD
GRAIL: Grant/Research Support 

Anu K. Agrawal, MD
Agios, Inc.: Equity Interest/Stock Options
BEAM Therapeutics: Consulting Fee; Equity Interest/Stock Options
Fulcrum Therapeutics: Equity Interest/Stock Options
Y-mAbs Therapeutics, Inc.: Consulting Fee
 
NCCN Staff Disclosures
 
The planners listed below have the following relevant relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose. All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.
 
Crystal S. Denlinger, MD
AbbVie, Inc.: Grant/Research Support
Bluebird bio: Grant/Research Support
Bristol Myers Squibb: Grant/Research Support
Eli Lilly and Company: Grant/Research Support
Genentech, Inc.: Grant/Research Support
GSK: Grant/Research Support
Pfizer Inc.: Grant/Research Support
Sanofi: Grant/Research Support
 
None of the other planners for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. 
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In support of improving patient care, National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physicians
NCCN designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

Nurses
NCCN designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.25 contact hours. 

Pharmacists
NCCN designates this knowledge-based continuing education activity for 1.25 contact hours (0.125 CEUs) of continuing education credit. UAN: JA4008196-0000-26-053-H01-P

Physician Assistants
NCCN has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.25 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Approval is valid until March 1, 2027. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Available Credit

  • 1.25 AAPA Category 1 CME credit
  • 1.25 ACPE contact hours
  • 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
  • 1.25 ANCC contact hours
  • 1.25 Participation
Please login or register to take this course.

Required Hardware/software

To complete this activity, users will need: 

  • A device with an Internet connection and sound playback capability (speakers or a headset) 
  • Adobe Reader or other PDF reader software for certificate viewing/printing