1. Uganda Program on Cancer
and Infectious Diseases
S e i z i n g a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o r e d u c e
t h e W OR L D ’ S c a n c e r b u r d e n
Seattle’s reputation as a leader in high technology and biotechnology and the allure of the region’s natural beauty attract the
world’s best minds to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. We draw inspiration from our diverse landscape—from rivers
and ocean to mountains and forest. At the Hutchinson Center, we live and breathe a life of science.
Mail Stop M1-B140, PO Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98109-1024 206.667.4600 www.fhcrc.org/upcid
An audacious vision
Early in his career as a physician-scientist, Dr. Corey
Casper developed an audacious vision. He knew that
more than 20 percent of cancer cases are associated
with infectious diseases. He believed that by stopping
these viral and bacterial infections with vaccines
and other measures, the cancers they cause could
be prevented.
When Casper took an
eye-opening trip to Uganda—
home to one of the world’s
highest concentrations of
infection-related cancers—and
met colleagues at the Uganda
Cancer Institute, he knew he
had found his ideal partner.
At the country’s sparsely
equipped cancer clinic, a grim
reality confronted him: Many
of the patients were children, and most of their cancers
had already reached advanced stages, leaving little
hope. “It is a terrible tragedy,” Casper said. “But it is one
I know we can fix.”
“A lot of cancer research focuses on incremental steps
toward solutions that might not materialize for decades,”
he said. “But we already know how to prevent some
infection-related cancers and we can potentially wipe out
the others. It’s an incredible opportunity to significantly
reduce the cancer burden worldwide.”
With the Uganda Program on Cancer and Infectious
Diseases, Casper and his colleagues are working
to do just that.

2. able to collect data from a large number of patients at a
single site—something that would be impossible in the U.S.
and other settings where infection-related cancers are
dispersed across huge areas.
This makes it a perfect place for the Hutchinson Center
to rapidly develop new prevention strategies, diagnostic
procedures and treatments for infection-related cancers.
In this unique setting, the Hutchinson Center and the Uganda
Cancer Institute are working to eliminate infection-related
cancers by:
l Identifying the biological links between infectious
diseases and cancers.
l Pioneering simple blood and saliva tests to identify
people at high risk for infection-related cancers.
l Developing new ways to prevent infectious diseases and
the cancers they cause.
l Cultivating approaches to cut the cost of preventing and
treating cancer.
l Training the next generation of oncologists to care for
cancer patients in low-resource areas.
In brief, UPCID’s goal is to make substantial inroads against
infection-related cancers and apply what is learned in Uganda
to the United States and around the world.
Cheaper, easier prevention and treatment
Understanding how infection-related cancers start and
proliferate are critical first steps. Our researchers also aim
to spur a new wave of affordable prevention, diagnostic and
treatment strategies.
With the application of existing medical knowledge and the
development of new prevention and treatment approaches,
UPCID is poised to make unparalleled progress against
infection-related cancers. Prospects for curing these diseases
are based on already successful research:
l Hutchinson Center research has shown that safe and
inexpensive antiviral drugs prevent progression of chronic
infections to cancer.
l Hutchinson Center researchers made integral
discoveries that led to the HPV vaccine that is
98 percent effective in preventing cervical cancer.
l The hepatitis B vaccine has nearly eradicated the
most common cancer in children in Taiwan.
l Inexpensive antibiotics alone can cure many cases of
stomach cancer.
l UPCID research has already shown that two
infection-related cancers common in Uganda are
highly curable at minimal expense: Burkitt’s
lymphoma and Kaposi sarcoma.
Training the next generation
When the Hutchinson Center first partnered with the
Uganda Cancer Institute in 2004, there was only one
oncologist in Uganda, a country of 32 million people.
To improve the country’s cancer care, UPCID includes a
strategic education program that brings Ugandan doctors
to the Hutchinson Center for a year of oncology training.
This program has already multiplied the number of oncolo-
gists in Uganda and could serve as a model for training
physicians in low-resource areas worldwide. The program
also has trained more than 100 Americans and Ugandans
at all levels of cancer research and care.
Improving care, supporting research
Reliable infrastructure is essential to UPCID’s success.
The Uganda Cancer Institute, established in 1967, is
the only cancer facility in the country. While it has an
impressive history of accomplishment, its five
cinderblock buildings have fallen into disrepair.
Through UPCID, the Hutchinson Center is making a
strategic investment to build an integrated research,
training and treatment facility that will:
l Improve patient access to diagnostic technology.
l Increase the number of patients who can be treated.
l Advance our goal of increasing survival rates for
common cancers from 10 percent to 90 percent.
l Provide an up-to-date laboratory for gathering data
and conducting research.
l Build a training environment for future generations of
Ugandan oncologists and researchers.
Help us reduce the world’s cancer burden
To learn more about how you can support our efforts,
visit www.fhcrc.org/upcid or call 206.667.4600.
DRS. LARRY COREY AND JACKSON OREM
W
hat may be surprising to many people is
the fact that infectious diseases cause
22 percent of the world’s cancer cases.
Several common viral and bacterial infections can lead to
cancers—such as stomach, liver, cervical, bladder, Kaposi
sarcoma and lymphoma. Because these cancer-causing
infections can be prevented or controlled, they represent
an immediate opportunity to significantly reduce the
world’s cancer burden—by preventing the development
of cancer in the first place.
As a leader in the prevention and treatment of cancer
and infectious diseases, Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center is uniquely suited to reduce the
burden of infection-related cancers. Not only is it one
of the world’s most accomplished cancer research
institutions, it is also home to one of the largest
infectious disease research programs.
By working in a country where cancer’s burden is heavy
and infection-related cancers are common, researchers
from the Hutchinson Center’s Uganda Program on Cancer
and Infectious Diseases (UPCID) are accelerating new
prevention and treatment breakthroughs. Research
advances we make there will redefine how we prevent
and treat cancer at home and around the world.
An innovative partnership,
an ideal environment
UPCID is an innovative partnership between the
Hutchinson Center and the Uganda Cancer Institute—site
of several landmark cancer discoveries.
Uganda is an ideal environment to study infection-related
cancers: It has one of the world’s highest concentrations
of these cancers, and the Uganda Cancer Institute sees
more than 10,000 patients a year. Our researchers are
S e i z i n g a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o r e d u c e t h e W OR L D ’ S c a n c e r b u r d e n
> Cancer has become the world’s leading cause of death, killing about 8 million people
annually. To put this in perspective, cancer is the second most common cause of death in the
United States, and it kills more people in low- and middle-resource countries each year than
HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
Uganda Program on Cancer
and Infectious Diseases
By building the Uganda Program on Cancer and
Infectious Diseases, the Hutchinson Center is working
to capitalize on a moment of extraordinary opportunity
to make important advances in the biology, prevention
and treatment of infection-related cancers. Through
UPCID, we can break the link between infectious
disease and cancer, leaving a lasting legacy in the
global fight against cancer.
A lasting legacy in the
global fight against cancer
INFECTIOUS DISEASES CAUSE
MORE THAN 20 PERCENT OF
THE WORLD’S CANCER CASES.