The greatest health epidemic of our time is cancer. Deaths from cancer worldwide outnumber the combined deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by a wide margin. There are at least 100 000 new cases of cancer per year in South Africa ( 2009 numbers, most likely a gross underestimate). The people of Africa, and especially southern Africa, have the greatest degree of genetic diversity in the world. Yet nearly all cancer research occurs outside Africa on non-African patients. Over half of the approximately 8 million deaths from cancer in 2008 occurred in populations in the developing world and this is expected to increase to over two thirds in the next 20 years. As cancer is a molecular disease with a genetic etiology that differs significantly from individual to individual, its treatment has catalyzed the emergence of precision medicine.

Learning Objectives:
1.      Describe the importance of african genetic diversity in cancer diagnosis and care
2.      Describe the benefits are obtained of using "living biobanks" of organoids for drug screening