Now speaking at Global Voices in Renal Oncology (VIRO) 2025 organized by OncoDaily, Dr. Ruzanna Papyan, Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Clinic at the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, delivered a talk on “Treating Wilms Tumor in Low-Middle-Income Countries.”
Dr. Papyan outlined the pressing challenges of managing Wilms tumor in resource-limited settings, highlighting both surgical and radiotherapy barriers. In many LMICs, specialized pediatric surgeons are scarce, and only about 46% of African countries have radiotherapy facilities-creating a major obstacle to standard treatment pathways and significantly impacting survival outcomes.
She emphasized the importance of adapted protocols such as SIOP and COG approaches, which allow for delayed surgery and more structured treatment planning when resources are constrained. Dr. Papyan also spotlighted successful collaborative efforts, including the Collaborative Wilms Tumor Africa Project, Kenya’s National Health Insurance program, and international twinning and partnership initiatives that have demonstrated measurable improvements in survival.
In addition, she discussed innovative solutions like tele-oncology and WHO’s CureAll Initiative, both of which are helping to bridge systemic gaps. She stressed that Wilms tumor can serve as a model cancer to drive progress toward the WHO target of achieving 60% survival for childhood cancers worldwide.
In her concluding message, Dr. Papyan underscored:
“Every child with cancer, regardless of where they live, deserves the chance to be cured.”
Strengthening health systems from early diagnosis through long-term survivorship is key to saving young lives globally.
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