Two Areas Where the U.S. and China Can Still Work Together
Forbes
The following is an excerpt from an article originally published by Forbes about the Asia Society Policy Institute's panel on U.S.-China collaboration.
A forum organized by the Asia Society's new Center for China Analysis on “China’s Future: What It Means for Asia and the World” in New York on Monday highlighted at least two areas that are still of promise: the fight against cancer and the push to a carbon neutral future.
Cancer kills nearly 10 million people globally each year, with China and the U.S. suffering the most loss of life. “This is a common enemy of humanity,” said Dr. Bob Li, Physician Ambassador to China and Asia-Pacific from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, or MSK, in New York.
His suggestion to quicken progress in the fight against it: More collaboration between the U.S. and China in clinical trials that would help bring new treatments to patients faster. “Clinical trials have evolved over the last few decades, particularly in the last decade where international clinical trials have become a reality. And this is where China has actually really demonstrated its contribution,” said Li, who is also a Senior Fellow on Global Public Health at the Center for China Analysis.
Trials involving China with a lung cancer EGFR inhibitor pill, for instance, accelerated their use in treatments in the U.S. and helped to save lives, said Li, who highlighted a “cure4cancer” program being launched by the Asia Society this year that seeks to widely promote that goal.
Widening participation in trials not just with China but globally is “critical” to the cancer fight, noted Dr. Selwyn Vickers, a pancreatic cancer surgeon and researcher who took up a new post as president and CEO at MSK in September. “It'd be shortsighted not to understand that international engagement is going to be critical in order for us to accomplish the goal of curing cancer,” Vickers said. “The fundamental part of the mission in MSK is to be able to lead the world in this space. And probably the most practical way to do it is in clinical trials.” Diversity among participants is important for trials to be effective because of “the broad diversity that represents the scope of cancer disease in the world,” Vickers said. “And then there obviously needs to be efficacy.”