Perspective articles by Esra Hassan

  Healthspan, Lifespan, and Cancer: Cancer in an ageing population A Think Piece for World Cancer Day 2026 Dr Esra Hassan We are living longer than ever before. Across much of the world, reaching our 80s and 90s is becoming the norm. But longevity comes with a reality we rarely discuss openly: cancer is increasingly becoming a disease of longevity. The longer we live, the greater the chance that changes accumulate within our cells that may eventually lead to cancer. A century ago, infectious diseases dominated mortality statistics. Today, in many countries, cancer is at the forefront. This shift is not accidental. As we prevent deaths from other causes, cancer becomes more visible. We are now surviving long enough to encounter diseases that were once less common simply because people did not live to the ages where cancer risk peaks. In many ways, the better we become at preventing deaths from other causes, the more cancer we will see. On World Cancer Day, this raises an imp...

Immune, Vascular, and Metabolic Pathways Linking SARS-CoV-2 to Oncogenesis and Long-Term Disease Esra Hassan, PhD, MSc, GMBPsS The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has reshaped our understanding of infectious diseases, not only through acute respiratory illness but also via long-term biological effects. COVID-19 may leave lasting imprints on the immune system, metabolic regulation, and vascular health systems closely linked to cancer biology. Unlike classic oncogenic viruses such as HPV or hepatitis B and C, SARS-CoV-2 is not conventionally classified as cancer-causing. However, it can induce immune dysregulation, chronic inflammation, and organ-specific injury, all biologically plausible contributors to cancer initiation or progression over years or decades (Jaiswal et al., 2024; Ochilov et al., 2025). This piece aims to simply explore some of the emerging evidence on the potential long-term oncogenic effects of SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Multi-System Perturbation SARS-CoV-2 trigger...

  African Innovations Across the Cancer Pathway: A High-Level Summary Dr Esra Hassan Research Fellow in Cancer African countries are innovating with grassroots, sustainable, and locally tailored solutions across the cancer care pathway. From prevention and early detection to treatment and palliative care, these efforts utilise local knowledge and technology to tackle disparities and enhance outcomes. This article offers a high level summary of some initiatives and innovations emerging and thriving across the continent. The African Cancer Context Africa faces a growing cancer burden, with over 1.1 million new cases and 711,429 deaths in 2020, projected to rise by 95% to 2.1 million cases and 1.4 million deaths by 2040 due to population growth, ageing, and lifestyle shifts. Breast (186,598 cases), cervical (150,066), and prostate (93,173) cancers are the most prevalent, with cervical cancer alone causing around 84,000 deaths annually and accounting for 22% of all female c...