Conquest
Our Publications

Keep up with the latest in cancer treatment, research, education and prevention.

Subscribe

Partnering With Our Neighbor to the South

Conquest - Spring 2007

By Julie Penne

A handshake and a signature were all that was needed to forge a new sister institution agreement with Mexico City’s Instituto Nacional de Cancerología.

The partnership between M. D. Anderson and INCAN is based on their mutual commitment to research-driven patient care in a setting of academic excellence and represents a step forward in the global fight against cancer. As the leading institution and governing body for cancer policy, treatment, education and research in Mexico, INCAN shares M. D. Anderson’s strong interest in advancing programs in cancer prevention and translational medicine.

Leaders and representatives from both institutions participated in a signing ceremony at INCAN that coincided with the 60th anniversary of its founding and a symposium on leukemia. They agree that leukemia, along with breast cancer and epidemiological studies, will be an initial area for collaboration.

Specifically, investigators will further share population-based studies to understand the risk factors for development of certain cancers among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, including M. D. Anderson’s Mexican-American Cohort Study — the largest study ever to focus entirely on the health needs of Mexican-American families.

Additionally, the collaboration establishes a plan for a national Mexican tissue bank and faculty training and education activities related to breast cancer and leukemia, eventually expanding to include clinical research and translational projects.

“For more than 30 years, INCAN has been a valuable partner to M. D. Anderson, and patients in Mexico and the United States have benefited from our shared knowledge,” says John Mendelsohn, M.D., president of M. D. Anderson. “This agreement formalizes a program to continue the important work we have accomplished together and advances our efforts to eradicate cancer throughout the world.”