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Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics · Journal article
Exploration of Targeted Anti-tumor Therapy · August 10, 2026
A consensus or society position rather than new primary data.
This integrative review identifies four major bioethical challenges in implementing precision oncology in Latin America: prohibitive drug pricing (exceeding 100,000 USD/year), limited NGS access (9.4%), clinical trial vulnerability, and judicialization of drug access. The authors recommend a shift toward genomic sovereignty and frugal precision oncology informed by social justice frameworks, but the evidence base is qualitative and advisory rather than outcome-driven.
Integrative review with systematic literature search and thematic synthesis. Literature addressing precision oncology implementation in Latin American low-resource settings; empirical and normative sources on bioethical, financial, infrastructural, and legal dimensions.. Intervention: Analysis of bioethical frameworks, policy approaches, and implementation strategies for targeted anti-tumor therapies in resource-limited settings.. Latin America; search included multiple Spanish and Portuguese language databases..
Drug pricing exceeds 100,000 USD/year, violating distributive justice principles and causing biological survival penalty Access to next-generation sequencing in Latin America stands at 9.4% Four major themes identified: innovation paradox and financial toxicity, infrastructure deficits and epistemic injustice, research vulnerability, and judicialization dilemma
No empirical outcome data (survival, access rates, litigation frequency) provided to validate claims of harm Four major themes identified: innovation paradox and financial toxicity, infrastructure deficits and epistemic injustice, research vulnerability, and judicialization dilemma
Clinicians and health policy leaders in Latin America should recognize that individual clinical decisions to prescribe high-cost precision therapies occur within a complex system of equity violations—financial, epistemic, and procedural. Institutional and regional frameworks must address genomic sovereignty and affordability alongside clinical innovation to prevent widening health disparities.
An integrative bioethical review identifying systemic challenges and recommending policy frameworks for equitable implementation of precision oncology in resource-limited settings, grounded in normative ethical theory rather than empirical outcome data.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Clinicians and health policy leaders in Latin America should recognize that individual clinical decisions to prescribe high-cost precision therapies occur within a complex system of equity violations—financial, epistemic, and procedural. Institutional and regional frameworks must address genomic sovereignty and affordability alongside clinical innovation to prevent widening health disparities.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Precision oncology has revolutionized cancer care in high-income countries, but its implementation in Latin American low-resource settings faces profound bioethical dilemmas. This study analyzes these challenges through the lens of social justice and equity. An integrative review was conducted following the Whittemore and Knafl framework. A systematic search was performed across PubMed, Scopus, SciELO, and LILACS (2015–2025). Thematic synthesis was applied to integrate empirical data with normative bioethical theories. Four major analytical themes were identified: 1) The innovation paradox and financial toxicity, where prohibitive pricing (exceeding 100,000 USD/year) violates distributive justice and leads to a biological penalty in survival; 2) Infrastructure deficits and epistemic injustice, highlighted by a 9.4% access rate to next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the risks of applying Eurocentric genomic data to admixed LA populations; 3) Research vulnerability, where clinical trials serve as survival strategies, compromising autonomy and informed consent; and 4) The judicialization dilemma, where individual court orders for high-cost drugs threaten systemic sustainability and equity. To prevent a genomic apartheid, Latin America must transition toward genomic sovereignty and frugal precision oncology. Bioethical frameworks in the region must prioritize protection ethics and social justice to ensure that scientific innovation does not exacerbate existing health inequities.
Taken from the source record, never inferred. Follow any of these and new work involving them reaches your briefing.