Professor Clement Adebamowo and a Breakthrough That Could Redefine Breast Cancer Care

In much of the world, a breast cancer diagnosis no longer carries the same fatal certainty it once did. Advances in molecular testing now allow doctors to identify the precise biological subtype of a tumour and prescribe highly targeted treatments. Yet in some regions of the world, this progress has remained out of reach. It is this stark global imbalance that Professor Clement Adebamowo, a Nigerian-born cancer researcher and physician, has spent decades trying to correct, culminating in the development of a rapid, low-cost breast cancer subtyping test that could fundamentally transform cancer care.

Professor Adebamowo is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Associate Director of Population Sciences at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Internationally respected for his work in cancer genetics, epidemiology and health equity, his career has been shaped by a persistent question: why should where a woman lives determine whether she receives the right cancer treatment?

The origins of this breakthrough trace back several decades to his training as a surgical oncology resident at University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan. While treating women with breast cancer, he noticed a faded instruction sheet pasted to the back door of a laboratory, detailing how tumour samples could be collected for receptor testing, tests that determine whether a cancer will respond to hormone or targeted therapies. The test was no longer performed. That abandoned protocol symbolised a wider systemic failure. Without the ability to characterise tumour biology, doctors were forced to treat all patients in essentially the same way, most often with standard chemotherapy, not because of poor clinical judgement but because the diagnostic infrastructure simply did not exist.

This challenge is particularly troubling in Nigeria, where breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. In 2022, an estimated 32,278 new cases were recorded. Mortality remains high not only due to late presentation, but possibly because many women receive treatments that are neither biologically appropriate nor financially sustainable. Modern breast cancer care depends on identifying three key receptors -estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 which guide decisions on hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted drugs, surgery or radiation. In high-income countries, such testing is routine. In many countries, it is either unavailable, slow or prohibitively expensive.

Working with bioengineers and cancer scientists at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Professor Adebamowo helped develop a breast cancer subtyping test specifically designed for low-resource settings. The prototype resembles a COVID-19 home test kit rather than a conventional pathology assay. About the size of a thick microscope slide, it requires only a small tumour sample diluted with a simple phosphate saline buffer. As the liquid migrates along the strip, coloured lines appear to indicate the presence of specific protein receptors, with a control line confirming test validity. The test detects the three most critical breast cancer receptors and delivers results in approximately two hours, compared with the weeks or months often required by conventional methods in resource-limited settings.

Once completed, the test is read using a specialised but portable machine that interprets the results, giving clinicians actionable information to guide treatment decisions. This speed and simplicity mean doctors no longer have to begin treatment blindly, and patients can receive therapies aligned with the biology of their disease.

The economic implications are equally significant. In the absence of receptor information, standard chemotherapy becomes the default option. Chemotherapy typically costs between N75,000 and N150,000 per month in many countries settings and comes with severe side effects, including nausea, hair loss, fatigue and increased risk of infection. By contrast, hormone therapy for patients whose tumours express estrogen or progesterone receptors can cost as little as N1,500 per month and is associated with far fewer adverse effects. For patients who often pay out of pocket, the difference can determine whether treatment is possible at all.

Professor Adebamowo has spoken openly about the financial toxicity of cancer, noting that the burden extends beyond drug costs to include transport, lost income, caregiving responsibilities and long-term economic insecurity. Making treatment affordable, he argues, is inseparable from improving survival and quality of life.

Many regions in Asia, Latin America and other low- and middle-income countries face similar diagnostic limitations. Even underserved communities within high-income countries could benefit from faster, cheaper subtyping tools. The innovation also holds promise for improving cancer research by enabling more accurate data collection and greater inclusion of African populations in global studies.

Professor Clement Adebamowo’s work does not offer a miracle cure, but it addresses one of the most critical bottlenecks in cancer care: knowing what type of cancer a patient has and how best to treat it. Rooted in decades of clinical experience, scientific rigor and a commitment to equity, his rapid breast cancer subtyping test represents a quiet but transformative advance, one that could save lives by ensuring that effective, affordable and personalised cancer care is no longer determined by geography or income.