Lancet Oncology Commission

The IAEA convened the first formal meeting of the Lancet Oncology Commission in 2018 to examine worldwide access and analyse barriers to imaging and nuclear medicine services for optimal cancer care.

The Commission utilized data collected and collated by the IAEA on equipment, workforce, and procedures, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, through the IAEA’s Nuclear Medicine Database (NUMDAB) and the IAEA Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine global resources database (IMAGINE).

The Commission report published in March 2021 highlights dramatic inequalities in access to imaging resources and outlines a compelling health economics case for countries; illustrating that scaling up access to medical imaging for cancer patients would yield substantial health and economic benefits. The Commission therefore calls for an overarching global strategy to address these needs, including the following actions:

• Action 1: Incorporate imaging diagnostics in essential benefits packages when expanding universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries
• Action 2: Incorporate in national cancer control plans costed actions to scale up cancer imaging diagnostics
• Action 3: Expand access to effective services for imaging diagnostics by scaling up the current capacity of human resources and imaging equipment
• Action 4: Ensure provision of optimal access to effective imaging diagnostics by establishing collaboratives for cancer imaging diagnostics
• Action 5: Invest in education and training to expand human resources
• Action 6: Invest in training, research, development, and innovation to develop affordable cancer imaging diagnostics in low- and middle-income countries

The Lancet Oncology Commission on Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine is comprised of: the African Association of Nuclear Medicine, the American College of Radiology, the Association of Latin American Societies of Biology and Nuclear Medicine, the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Asia Oceania Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, the African Organisation for Research & Training in Cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Arab Society of Nuclear Medicine, the African Society of Radiology, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the European Association of Nuclear Medicine, the European Society for Medical Oncology, the European Society of Radiology, the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology, the Hong Kong College of Radiologists, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the International Society for Strategic Studies in Radiology, the International Society of Radiology, the National Cancer Institute, the Pan-Arab Association of Radiological Societies, the Radiological Society of North America, the South African Society of Nuclear Medicine, the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging, the Union for International Cancer Control, the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, and the World Molecular Imaging Society.