According to pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, ovarian cancer remains one of the most serious and challenging cancers affecting women, with outcomes often shaped by how early the disease is identified and whether patients can access the right diagnostic tools to guide treatment decisions.<\/p>\n
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In a move to address these delays, AstraZeneca has launched the Helix Project in South Africa (SA) to expand access to advanced diagnostic testing for eligible patients.<\/p>\n
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The initiative focuses on broadening access to homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) testing. HRD testing allows laboratories to assess critical genomic alterations and key biomarkers within a single workflow, helping oncologists deliver timely, precision-guided treatment plans.<\/p>\n
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The multi-stakeholder rollout pairs AstraZeneca and Thermo Fisher Scientific with four major SA pathology providers; Gritzman & Thatcher, PathCare, Lancet, and Ampath.<\/p>\n
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“Ovarian cancer is too often diagnosed late, and access to timely diagnostics can play an important role in helping inform treatment decisions,” said Dr Khomotso Mashilane, Medical Director for the African Cluster at AstraZeneca. “This programme is designed to help reduce cost barriers to HRD testing for eligible patients and reflects our broader commitment to improving access to cancer care through partnership and innovation.”<\/p>\n
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In SA, ovarian cancer ranks among the most frequent gynaecological malignancies behind cervical and uterine cancers. Globally, gynaecological cancers accounted for 15.3% of cancer deaths in women in 2020, with mortality rates projected to rise significantly by 2050.<\/p>\n
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Through the partnership, eligible patients across SA will receive expanded access to HRD testing at a reduced cost.<\/p>\n
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–ChannelAfrica\/AstraZeneca —<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42976,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-42975","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"AstraZeneca launches ovarian cancer initiative in SA","published_date":"2026-08-18 15:09:51","news_description":"AstraZeneca launches ovarian cancer initiative in SA","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/42975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/42975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42977,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/42975\/revisions\/42977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=42975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}