KUALA LUMPUR: Cancer Research Malaysia (CRM) will launch World Reverse Cancer Day next Monday to boost awareness about its work and the fact that cancer can be reversed through research.
This is because April 2 is the reverse of Feb 4, the date on which World Cancer Day takes place every year.
“By doing so, we want the public to recognise that the fight against cancer and our ability to reverse cancer has to start with cancer research,” said CRM chief executive Prof Dr Teo Soo-Hwang.
“It is important to raise awareness that if we do not fund research on cancer, we cannot control the disease better.
“This message can go global and is applicable in any part of the world. You cannot cure cancer if you stop doing research.
“Thus, we are appealing to all Malaysians to recognise that there is a Malaysian organisation that is doing research on cancer.
“We hope that more will join the cause by donating to the work that we do as we are a non-profit research organisation that is funded entirely through donations to find ways to cure cancer and improve the survival of cancer patients in the country.”
As it is gearing up for the inaugural World Reverse Cancer Day event, Cancer Research Malaysia will also be hosting an event called #Reverseforcancer on March 31 and Apr 1 at APW Bangsar in Jalan Riong here.
“At the event, the public will not only get to know about Cancer Research Malaysia, but also can get insights on cancer from talks by experts as well immunotherapy and how it is helping to reverse cancer, as well as vaccines that are available to cure cancer,” said Dr Teo.
“It would be great if we could go back to the days of our grandparents when cancer was not so common.”
She said Malaysia must invest heavily in cancer research as the number of cases were expected to double in the next three decades.
“Often we talk about people who are suffering from cancer, people who cannot afford treatment and how we can help them. Although it is important to support cancer patients, Malaysia is going to experience double the number of cancer cases in the next 30 years.
“Already, we are facing financial catastrophe. If we just continue to provide support (and that is all we do), we are not going to be able to fight cancer effectively,”
“We believe that if we want to reverse cancer we have to invest heavily in research, as it will deliver better ways of ensuring that fewer people suffer from cancer in the future.
“All cures that we have today are based on research done in the past. If we have more people surviving from cancer, then it is no longer a disease that we fear so much,” she said.
Dr Teo said CRM focused on Asians in its work because cancer research work worldwide was mostly focused on Caucasians.
“Genetics influence our risk to diseases and response to treatment, yet only five per cent of genetic studies involve Asians, even though we make up more than half of the world’s population.
“Thus, we at Cancer Research Malaysia are focusing on Asians to find out our risk to diseases, response to treatment and development of new treatments that are relevant to us.”
Teo said CRM started with oral cancer but had expanded its work to breast cancer (the most common cancer in the country) and nasopharyngeal cancer (an Asian-centric cancer), as well as developing new therapies.