Pan-American Cancer Consortium: Building the Infrastructure to Support Precision Cancer Care

Chicago, May 31, 2026 – One year after its launch, the Pan-American Cancer Consortium (PACC) returned to the sidelines of the ASCO Annual Meeting to build on its work exploring the role of precision oncology in supporting broader patient access to clinical trials across the Americas.

Convened by the Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition with support from AstraZeneca, the roundtable brought together leaders from healthcare systems, academia, professional organizations and industry, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Eli Lilly and Company, and leading cancer centers across the western hemisphere. Together, they discussed the infrastructure, partnerships, and evidence needed to move from promising pilot programs developed by Coalition members to lasting policy change that can transcend borders.

Participants noted that the Pan-American region is well positioned to advance national and cross-border cancer care through shared languages, cultural connections, and collaborative models intended to support healthcare delivery and access, particularly among underserved populations. The need is significant as the cancer burden continues to grow. More than 4.2 million people are diagnosed with cancer across the Americas each year, and that number is projected to increase by 60% to 6.7 million by 2045, placing increasing pressure on health systems to expand access to diagnosis, treatment, and specialized care.

Based on the premise that increasing access to clinical trials may help expand patient access to research opportunities and generate evidence that informs future care, the group identified three priorities for the PACC to champion:

Expand access to genomic testing through sustained reimbursement, referral, and care-navigation models
Extend specialist expertise beyond major cancer centers through multidisciplinary teams, molecular tumor boards, and digital platforms
Generate the clinical and economic evidence needed to translate successful pilots into broader adoption, sustainable funding, and policy change

Building the Infrastructure for Precision Oncology

Progress in oncology depends not only on scientific breakthroughs, but also on the systems that enable patients to access them. Yet, the availability of molecular testing remains one of the most significant barriers to precision oncology across the Pan-American region. Without reliable access to testing, many patients may face challenges with accessing molecularly-informed care and identifying potential clinical trial opportunities. Several attendees emphasized that long-term progress will require greater engagement from healthcare systems, governments, and payers to support the infrastructure for genomic testing. The discussion explored how referral networks, multidisciplinary care models, digital tools, and policy initiatives can create the foundational pathways needed to match patients to clinical trials, supporting the development of precision therapies.

BRIDGE: Exploring New Approaches to Clinical Trial Access

One example of progress is the Brazilian Referral Initiative for Data-Driven Genomic Enrollment (BRIDGE), a clinical trial referral network developed through a partnership between Hospital Sírio-Libanês and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

BRIDGE combines referral infrastructure, genomic testing, AI-enabled decision support, and care navigation into a single model intended to evaluate approaches for identifying potentially eligible patients, facilitating referrals and generating evidence that may inform future implementation efforts.

Originally presented during the Consortium’s inaugural discussions in 2024, BRIDGE has received support from multiple organizations including AstraZeneca, Roche, and Lilly, and is scheduled to begin operations in June 2026, with additional biopharma partners expected to support the initiative. The model places trained nurse navigators within public hospitals, captures structured clinical information from newly diagnosed patients, incorporates genomic profiling, and uses AI-enabled matching tools designed to assist in identifying potential clinical trial opportunities across Brazil.

“This is not trying to pull patients from the public system,” explained Dr. Carlos Henrique dos Anjos of Hospital Sírio-Libanês and lead on the initiative. “It’s trying to increase as much as possible the matching between a patient in the public system and any clinical trial that is open in the country.”

Beyond a clinical trial initiative, BRIDGE is intended to evaluate approaches that may help expand access within public health systems. By measuring patient identification, molecular profiling, trial referrals, enrollment, and barriers to participation, the model aims to generate the evidence needed to inform future investment, reimbursement, and policy priorities. Findings generated through the initiative may help inform future discussions regarding health system investment and infrastructure needs across the region.

Expanding Access to Expertise Through MDTs

With cancer care growing in complexity, multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) and molecular tumor boards have surfaced as a popular mechanism for extending specialist expertise beyond major academic centers. Several physicians in the room noted that the pace of innovation makes it increasingly difficult for every institution to maintain deep expertise across rapidly evolving biomarkers, targeted therapies, and clinical trial opportunities. Thus, regional and cross-border MDTs could provide opportunities to share knowledge, support complex case discussions, and improve access to specialist perspectives regardless of geography.

Participants also highlighted the educational value of these collaborations. Experiences shared from Brazil demonstrated how molecular tumor boards can evolve from training exercises into trusted forums for discussing difficult cases across institutions. Over time, documenting and cataloging cases may create a valuable reference library, allowing clinicians to learn not only from live discussions but also from previously reviewed cases.

At the same time, attendees emphasized that successful MDT models must be tailored to local needs. While molecular tumor boards can be valuable for larger academic centers, underserved hospitals often face more fundamental barriers, including limited access to testing, technology infrastructure, AI-enabled tools, and standardized operating practices. Addressing these challenges will be critical to ensuring that MDTs become a scalable tool for expanding expertise and improving care across the region.

Building Sustainable Models for Access

Expanding cancer care access is not only a clinical imperative, but also an economic opportunity. Participants discussed emerging evidence suggesting that certain genomic testing and clinical trial access models may support more efficient care delivery, while noting that additional evidence is needed across healthcare settings. They noted that improved infrastructure may help healthcare systems better coordinate care, facilitate research participation, and improve identification of potential clinical trial opportunities. The discussion also underscored the importance of generating evidence to evaluate the impact of these approaches on patients and healthcare systems. Demonstrating both clinical and economic value may ultimately be one of the most effective ways to build support for broader adoption and policy change. In that sense, initiatives such as BRIDGE are not only testing new models of care, but also helping to build the evidence base needed to support future policy and investment decisions.

Looking Ahead

Taken together, these priorities reflect an important evolution in the Consortium’s work to explore and evaluate approaches that may help connect patients to diagnostics, expertise, and clinical trial opportunities while generating evidence to inform future decision-making across health systems. Creating the infrastructure to support those models will be a necessary first step, while the next phase of progress will depend as much on strengthening those systems as on developing the next breakthrough therapy.

About The International Cancer Coalition

The Bloomberg New Economy International Cancer Coalition brings together academia, industry, government, patient advocacy and policy think tanks to tackle the challenges of global health equity by leveraging technology and collaboration to accelerate cancer cures and prevention worldwide.

AstraZeneca is a partner of the International Cancer Coalition.

Bloomberg New Economy Coalitions are data-driven, community-led initiatives that bring together leading experts across the public and private sectors for dialogue, collective recommendations and commitments, and coordinated action around urgent global challenges. Bloomberg New Economy is currently working on three coalitions: the International Cancer Coalition, the Dynamic Cities Coalition, and the Energy Technology Coalition.

ENDS

By Setonji Agosa, Manager, Bloomberg’s New Economy Coalitions & Community Innovation. For inquiries, contact: sagosa@bloomberg.net