Health
…Africa accounts for about 7.4% of global cancer cases but 61% of cancer deaths
…20 African countries have no linear accelerator for cancer treatment
…AI trained on non-African data may produce inaccurate diagnosis and treatment recommendations
By Anthony Isibor
TOLU Adewole, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MedServe, a healthcare infrastructure company established by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA has warned that Africa must build its own cancer data and research systems if artificial intelligence, AI and precision medicine are to significantly improve cancer outcomes on the continent,
Adewole, delivering the keynote address at a two-day symposium on “New Frontiers in Cancer Care: Leveraging AI, Precision Medicine and Innovative Research in Africa,” at the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU on Wednesday said that said Africa could not afford to simply import technologies developed from datasets that did not adequately represent African patients.
He said the under-representation of Africans in global health datasets posed a major risk as AI became increasingly important in cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment planning and patient monitoring.
“Local data matters,” Adewole said, explaining that differences in genetics, disease presentation, tumour characteristics, environmental exposure and healthcare pathways could affect the accuracy of AI models.
He said models trained largely on data from other populations could perform differently when applied to African patients.
Adewole said the challenge was particularly important because Africa carries a disproportionately high cancer mortality burden. While the continent accounts for about 7.4 per cent of global cancer cases, he said, it accounts for about 61 per cent of cancer deaths.
He also noted that 20 African countries did not have a single linear accelerator, a machine used in radiotherapy for cancer treatment.
According to him, the continent therefore faces a double challenge: strengthening basic cancer infrastructure while simultaneously taking advantage of rapidly advancing technologies.
“Technology alone is not enough,” he said. “Technology cannot transform a non-existent healthcare system. You need to have a healthcare system for you to leverage technology on.”
He identified infrastructure, inadequate diagnostic capacity, poor connectivity, workforce shortages, financial constraints and weak health data systems among the barriers limiting cancer care in Nigeria and other African countries.
But he said the growth of AI, genomics, precision medicine and digital health offered Africa an opportunity to change the way cancer was prevented, detected and treated.
Adewole gave examples of how technology was already reducing delays in cancer care. He said AI-assisted treatment planning at a cancer centre had reduced a process that could take about eight hours to roughly 30 minutes, allowing more patients to be attended to.
He also cited the growth of cancer treatment infrastructure in Nigeria, saying the country now had 21 cancer centres equipped with linear accelerators, compared with a much smaller number several years ago.
The next challenge, he said, was to build the human capacity, research infrastructure and data systems required to make those facilities sustainable.
Adewole said Africa’s genetic diversity was one of its greatest untapped resources for cancer research.
He noted that Africans currently account for only a small proportion of participants represented in global genomic datasets, despite Africa having the greatest genetic diversity among human populations.
He argued that the objective should not simply be to add African patients to global datasets, but to develop African-led research programmes and genomic infrastructure capable of generating knowledge that would benefit both African and global populations.
This, he said, would help researchers understand why patients with apparently similar cancers could respond differently to treatment.
That is the basis of precision oncology, he explained: moving away from giving patients with the same diagnosis essentially the same treatment and instead using their genetic, molecular and biological characteristics to guide treatment.
Adewole urged physicians to make greater use of tests such as immunohistochemistry and next-generation sequencing where appropriate, arguing that better molecular diagnosis could help identify patients who would benefit from targeted therapies and prevent resources being wasted on ineffective treatment.
He also warned against ignoring the economic consequences of poor treatment decisions.
A cancer patient could suffer not only the physical effects of the disease but also what he described as financial toxicity, particularly when patients have to travel long distances for diagnosis or treatment.
For patients travelling from distant parts of Nigeria to Lagos, he said, the cost of transportation, accommodation and other expenses could sometimes rival or exceed the cost of treatment itself.
Adewole said expanding cancer services geographically, alongside better diagnostic systems, would therefore be important in reducing inequality in access.
He said AI could help across the cancer care pathway, from screening and early detection to diagnosis, treatment planning, monitoring and survivorship.
It could also help identify people at high risk before cancer develops, allowing earlier intervention.
But Adewole said the benefits would depend on the quality and representativeness of the data used to train the systems.
He identified several forms of bias that could affect AI, including bias arising from inadequate representation of African populations and from historical datasets that did not include them sufficiently.
He also stressed the need for responsible use of health data.
Data privacy, informed consent, data sovereignty and transparency, he said, must form part of the development of AI systems for cancer care.
“Clinical decision support supported by AI must be safe, reliable and explainable,” he said, adding that public confidence would be essential for data sharing, research collaboration and adoption of the technology.
Adewole called for collaboration among governments, healthcare providers, technology companies, academic and research institutions and development partners.
He said no single stakeholder could address Africa’s cancer burden alone.
The goal, he said, should ultimately be to ensure that the right patient receives the right treatment at the right time, using technology that is developed with African patients and African data in mind.
The event which was organized by Africn Research Group for Oncology, ARGO in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kattering Cancer center brought together experts from around the world.
A.I
Oct. 7, 2026
Tags: New Frontiers in Cancer Care: Leveraging AI Precision Medicine and Innovative Research in Africa Tolu Adewole