Cancer is becoming an increasingly urgent health challenge in Nigeria. But while conversations often focus on prevention, diagnosis, treatment and access to medicines, Nigerian pharmacist Abdulbasit Ajumobi believes another question deserves greater attention: Who will discover the cancer medicines of tomorrow?
The question is becoming increasingly important. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that 20.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer and 9.8 million died from the disease globally in 2024. By 2050, annual cancer cases are projected to reach 34.4 million. (IARC)
Nigeria already carries a significant burden. IARC’s latest Nigeria-specific estimate recorded 127,763 new cancer cases and 79,542 cancer deaths in 2022. Breast cancer accounted for 32,278 new cases, followed by prostate cancer with 18,019 and cervical cancer with 13,676. (Global Cancer Observatory)
Behind these figures are families facing prolonged treatment, financial pressure and, for many, loss of life.
For Ajumobi, Nigeria’s cancer burden should create not only a stronger case for better cancer care but also for greater investment in cancer drug discovery.
“Cancer research should not only focus on how to deliver the medicines that already exist. We also need to ask whether better, safer or more effective treatments can be discovered.”
Cancer is not one disease, and patients do not respond identically to treatment. Chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and targeted treatments have transformed outcomes, but significant challenges remain. Some treatments can cause serious adverse effects, while others may work for some patients and not others.
This creates a continuing need for pharmaceutical innovation.
Yet much of the world’s cancer drug discovery occurs outside Africa. Nigerian patients can benefit from medicines developed elsewhere without Nigerian scientists necessarily playing a significant role in the research that produces them.
Ajumobi believes Nigeria should begin changing that equation.
The country’s cancer profile can help shape research priorities. Breast, prostate and cervical cancers are among Nigeria’s leading cancers, providing opportunities for researchers to develop specialised expertise.
The questions are pharmaceutical as much as clinical: can existing medicines be made safer? Can promising compounds be developed into new treatments? Can drugs be designed to act more selectively on cancer cells? Can drug-delivery systems improve the concentration of medicines at tumour sites while reducing exposure to healthy tissue?
These questions sit at the intersection of drug discovery, formulation and drug delivery.
“If cancer is becoming a bigger challenge for Nigerians, it should also become a bigger question for Nigerian pharmaceutical research,” Ajumobi said.
Nigeria does not need to recreate the entire global pharmaceutical industry. It can build specialised strengths and partnerships around areas where its researchers can make meaningful contributions.
One opportunity lies in natural-product drug discovery.
Nigeria has extensive traditional knowledge of medicinal plants. But traditional use should not be confused with scientific proof. A plant being used traditionally does not automatically mean it is safe or effective against cancer.
The opportunity is to investigate promising leads rigorously.
Researchers can identify potentially active plants, isolate and characterise their compounds, investigate their biological activity, assess toxicity and determine whether any candidates warrant further development.
In other words, traditional knowledge can generate research questions; modern science must provide the answers.
The potential extends beyond the discovery of a single medicine. Successful research can generate intellectual property, strengthen biotechnology, develop specialised scientific expertise and create opportunities for pharmaceutical manufacturing.
But discovering a promising compound is only the beginning.
A candidate must eventually be developed into a medicine. Pharmaceutical scientists must determine how it can be formulated and delivered. Clinical researchers must establish its safety and effectiveness. Manufacturers must produce it consistently, while regulators must ensure that the resulting product meets appropriate standards.
Discovery, formulation, drug delivery, clinical research and manufacturing are therefore parts of the same pharmaceutical-development journey.
Nigeria already has institutions involved in pharmaceutical and natural-product research, including the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD). The opportunity is to strengthen connections between these capabilities, universities, clinicians and industry around major health challenges such as cancer.
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Ajumobi believes this requires multidisciplinary collaboration.
“We have scientific talent, biological resources and a growing need for better medicines. The opportunity is to connect these through rigorous research and build the capacity to turn promising discoveries into real pharmaceutical products.”
Nigeria will continue to need better prevention, earlier diagnosis and greater access to existing cancer treatments. Those priorities cannot be neglected.
But alongside them, the country should ask a longer-term question:
What medicines will Nigerian patients need 10 or 20 years from now, and who will discover them?
Cancer drug discovery should not be an ambition reserved for wealthy pharmaceutical economies.
With targeted investment, multidisciplinary collaboration and stronger links between research institutions and industry, Nigeria can begin building a meaningful role in the discovery and development of future cancer medicines.
The next important cancer medicine may not simply be one Nigeria imports. It could be one Nigerian researcher helped discover.
Source:Eagles online
