Global Access & Impact

Global Immunotherapy Access

SITC invites scientists and clinicians worldwide to join its mission to eliminate cancer through immunotherapies. Dedicated to removing obstacles to essential educational programs and membership benefits, the Society has developed affordable opportunities for individuals in low- and lower-middle-income economies. These efforts are led by the SITC Global Access and Impact Committee.

Increasing Access to IO: A Global Webinar Series

The Global Access and Impact Committee, in collaboration with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, launched SITC’s first educational program crafted specifically for international audiences. The series focused on the nuances of applying the latest scientific and clinical advances in cancer immunotherapy around the globe and provided a forum for international physicians and attendees to discuss specific topics, challenges, and their experiences in overcoming barriers in administering local immunotherapy treatment. The series completed in late November 2024 and all recorded webinars can be accessed as enduring materials in the SITC CONNECT library here.

385 attendees throughout the course of the series

Six total webinars:

Global Access Manuscript

Over the course of 2024, the Global Access and Impact Committee worked to develop a manuscript titled “Cancer Immunotherapy Clinical Trials to Support Urgently Needed Access in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Report from the SITC Global Access and Impact Committee”. The goal of this text is to discuss learnings from clinical trials and demonstration projects of checkpoint blockade immunotherapy around the world, with an emphasis on low- and middle-income economies (LMIEs), as well as provide recommendations for future studies. These recommendations instruct readers on how to drive towards patient impact by generating data that will educate local stakeholders, including patients, providers, regulators, professional societies, and payors. This manuscript demonstrates how clinical trials in resource-limited settings have the power to impact future IO development. As of early December 2024, the manuscript was submitted to JITC and is currently under consideration for publication.  

International Collaborative Education Programs (CEPs)

SITC participated in a total of 8 international collaborative education programs. Most notably, SITC developed a half-day program focused on new frontiers in cancer immunotherapy with the Irish Society for Immunology. This program was held prior to the 7^th European Congress of Immunology, which takes place every three years as an official meeting of the European Federation of Immunological Societies (EFIS). Over 255 people registered for the program and 164 attended. ECI also provided SITC with a free booth at the exhibit hall, which allowed for SITC exposure to European stakeholders. In addition, we helped plan the first international WIC program that was targeted toward young investigators throughout Asia and took place in Shanghai, China. Those young investigators with outstanding research will be invited to present at the 2025 WIC Young Investigator Symposium at SITC.