International

Cancer drug cooperation could save 1.5 mn lives a year: researchers

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AFP

Around 1.5 million lives could be saved every year if the world worked together to more swiftly approve new cancer drugs, researchers said Tuesday.

The figure was based on how long it took two recent cancer drugs to be approved across the world after they were given the green light by the United States.

Pembrolizumab, an effective treatment for most lung cancers, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2016.

More than 600,000 years of patients’ lives could have been saved if Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan and the European Union had approved the drug at the same time, according to an analysis published in the Harvard Business Review, which is not peer-reviewed.

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The authors, including US oncologist Bobby Daly, also looked at enzalutamide, which is used to treat prostate cancer.

Enzalutamide was approved by the FDA in 2012, but was not authorised in China for another seven years, partly due to a requirement for separate trials to be carried out there.

The analysis by members of the Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition found that 284,000 years of patient lives could have been saved if other countries had approved the drug alongside the FDA.

Extrapolating out from their findings, the researchers estimated that if each of the approximately seven cancer drugs approved by the FDA a year were authorised worldwide, it would reduce the number of cancer-related deaths by 10-20 percent.

That represents roughly 1.5 million of the around 10 million people who die of cancer every year.

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‘Challenging’ for doctors

“In China alone an estimated 500,000 patient life-years could be saved through harmonisation of trial requirements that have delayed patient access to treatment,” former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, co-chair of the Bloomberg cancer coalition, said in a statement.

Mary Gospodarowicz, also a member of the coalition, said that it was “challenging” as an oncologist in Canada when a drug was approved in the US but would take years to be able to prescribe it to her patients.

The study assumed that the rest of the world had the infrastructure to diagnose and treat cancer as well as the US, which is not always the case, Gospodarowicz told AFP via phone from the World Cancer Congress in Geneva on Tuesday.

But it served as an example of how “removing the barriers to drug approval would be beneficial to patients around the world,” said the former president of the Union for International Cancer Control, which is holding the congress.

The authors of the analysis called on countries to embrace Project Orbis, a US-led framework aiming to get cancer drugs trialled and approved at the same time in multiple countries.

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“The US has already made significant progress in setting up the regulatory infrastructure for cancer treatment with the Project Orbis initiative and the task ahead is to take that framework and internationalise it,” former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.

International

Maradona’s daughter accuses medical team of “horrible manipulation” in court

One of the daughters of Diego Maradona testified in court this Tuesday, breaking down in tears as she denounced what she described as “absolute and horrible manipulation” by her father’s medical team, during an emotional hearing in Argentina.

Gianinna Maradona stated that she and her siblings agreed to home hospitalization after doctors presented it as the best option following the neurosurgery Maradona underwent on November 3, 2020.

The football icon died on November 25 of that year, and the ongoing trial seeks to determine whether the conditions of his home care were appropriate.

According to Gianinna, what the family found at the residence where Maradona was recovering did not match what had been promised. She testified that there was no adequate medical equipment, constant monitoring, or even an ambulance available, despite assurances of continuous care.

“The manipulation was absolute and horrible,” she said during the hearing in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires.

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She accused members of the medical team, including neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, and psychologist Carlos Díaz, of misleading the family.

“I trusted these people, and all they did was manipulate us and leave my son without a grandfather,” she added.

Later in her testimony, recalling that six years have passed since her father’s death, she became emotional and said she struggled deeply with grief in the aftermath.

International

Trump extends Iran ceasefire after Pakistan mediation request

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday that he will extend the ceasefire with Iran, which was set to expire on Wednesday, following a request from Pakistan.

In a statement shared on Truth Social, Trump said the truce will remain in place until Iran presents a proposal and negotiations are concluded, regardless of the outcome.

“I will extend the ceasefire until their proposal is presented and negotiations are completed, whatever the result,” the U.S. leader stated.

Trump justified the decision by claiming that Iran’s government is “deeply divided” and noting that Pakistani authorities, acting as mediators, requested a pause in military action until Iranian leaders and representatives submit a unified proposal.

International

Venezuelan opposition demands election date and minimum wage increase

A group of opposition members from the Zulia Humana and former political prisoners on Tuesday demanded that authorities set a date for elections in Venezuela and increase the minimum wage, which has been frozen since 2022 and is currently worth just a few cents per month according to the Banco Central de Venezuela.

During a press conference in Maracaibo, Professor Eduardo Labrador stressed the urgency of establishing an electoral timeline. “We demand that a date be set for elections so Venezuelans can have free and transparent voting. It is essential to have that date now,” he said.

Economist Rodrigo Cabezas, who served under the late President Hugo Chávez, also called for an increase in the minimum wage, arguing that it is feasible through economic policy measures, although he did not specify an amount due to limited public data.

Cabezas warned that Venezuela experienced “galloping inflation” between March of last year and March 2026, a stage that precedes hyperinflation—a phenomenon the country has already faced. However, he clarified that Venezuela is not currently in hyperinflation, expressing hope that it will not return.