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Integrating epistemic justice in global cancer research

Nature Health (2026)Cite this article

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Current systems of cancer research marginalize knowledge from low- and middle-income countries, where most future cancer cases will occur, by privileging high-income country evidence and often overlooking local expertise and context-specific needs.

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Acknowledgements

M.S.P., T.P.K., N.Y.L. and E.C.D. are funded in part through the NIH/NCI Support Grant P30 CA008748. E.C.D. is funded in part through the Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Milit S. Patel

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Milit S. Patel, Nancy Y. Lee & Edward Christopher Dee

  3. ICanServe Foundation, Manila, Philippines

    Maria Jocelyn Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

  4. Cancer Coalition Philippines, Makati, Philippines

    Maria Jocelyn Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

  5. Department of Medicine, NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Erin Jay G. Feliciano

  6. School of Medicine and Public Health, Ateneo de Manila University, Pasig City, Philippines

    Erin Jay G. Feliciano

  7. Laboratory for Computational Physiology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Leo Anthony Celi

  8. Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Leo Anthony Celi

  9. Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Leo Anthony Celi

  10. Global Cancer Disparities Initiatives, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    T. Peter Kingham

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  1. Milit S. Patel
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  2. Maria Jocelyn Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala
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  3. Erin Jay G. Feliciano
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  4. Leo Anthony Celi
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  5. T. Peter Kingham
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  6. Nancy Y. Lee
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  7. Edward Christopher Dee
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Correspondence to Milit S. Patel.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Patel, M.S., Magsanoc-Alikpala, M.J.K., Feliciano, E.J.G. et al. Integrating epistemic justice in global cancer research. Nat. Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-025-00047-0

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