Global major pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca has announced the launch of the Helix Project in South Africa, to widen access to advanced diagnostic testing for ovarian cancer for eligible patients, to enable earlier and better-informed decisions regarding treatment. The project brings together AstraZeneca, US-based life sciences research, diagnostics and medical therapeutics development and manufacturing group Thermo Fisher Scientific, and South African private pathology laboratories Ampath, Gritzman & Thatcher, Lancet and Pathcare.
Helix will improve patient access to homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) testing, which is a form of biomarker testing. Such testing plays an important role in diagnosing ovarian cancer.
“Ovarian cancer is too often diagnosed late, and access to timely diagnostics can play an important role in helping inform treatment decisions,” highlighted AstraZeneca African Cluster medical director Dr Khomotso Mashilane. “This programme is designed to help reduce cost barriers to HRD testing for eligible patients and reflects our broader commitment to improving access to cancer care through partnership and innovation.”
Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cause of cancer-related deaths among women, worldwide. And the number of women who die from it is forecast to significantly increase by the year 2050. In South Africa, it is the third most common gynaecological cancer, after cervical cancer and uterine cancer. Together, gynaecological cancers are the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancers among women, globally, accounting for 15.3% of deaths from cancer in women.
