Our Mission
Rayos Contra Cancer (RCC) is a non-profit dedicated to improving cancer outcomes in limited-resource settings by strengthening the quality of radiotherapy care around the world. Radiotherapy is recommended for over 50% of cancer patients - but its effectiveness depends on the skill, training, and support of the clinicians delivering it (1). In many parts of the world, clinicians struggle daily with 5-10x higher-than-recommended patient volumes and report gaps in provider education and decision support (2).
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Why This Matters Now
Across the globe, over 70% of cancer cases occur in low- and middle- income countries - a proportion that continues to grow (3). Yet, access to high-quality radiotherapy remains uneven, not only due to infrastructure gaps, but also due to disparities in training and clinical support. The human workforce shortage is a real, critical threat that we must invest in now if we want a planet with equitable cancer care.
What We Do
RCC partners with existing radiotherapy clinics in limited-resource settings to empower local clinicians to provide the best care they can for their patients. We design and deliver practical, longitudinal training programs for radiotherapy clinics focused on real-world clinical decision-making.
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Our programs emphasize:
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Immediately applicable clinical skills
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Practical insights, documents, and tools for the workplace environment
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Supporting the entire clinical team, including radiation oncologists, medical physicists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and nurses
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Growing confidence and knowledge to provide better care
Our training programs are free, easy-to-access, and made possible through the support of expert volunteers, who generously share expertise from their many years of practicing radiotherapy.
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Our Vision
We envision a world where every cancer patient - regardless of where they were born or where they live - receives the highest quality care possible. By strengthening the global radiation oncology workforce, we are working toward a future where better treatments lead to better outcomes for patients everyhwere.
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1 Atun R, Jaffray DA, Barton MB, et al. Expanding global access to radiotherapy. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16 (10):1153-1186. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00222-3​
2 Abdel-Wahab M, Giammarile F, Carrara M, et al. Radiotherapy and theranostics: a Lancet Oncology Commission. Lancet Oncol. 2024 Nov;25(11):e545-e580. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00407-8​
3 Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Dikshit R, et al. Cancer incidence and mortality worldwide: Sources, methods and major patterns in GLOBOCAN 2012. Int J Cancer 136:E359-E386, 2015. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29210
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Availability of Radiotherapy Machines
The availability of radiotherapy equipment is one snapshot of the disparity in global radiotherapy access - although it tells only part of the story.
As seen in these maps, there is a clear need for greater radiotherapy access in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. While access to equipment is expanding, the ability to deliver high-quality care depends equally on the training, experience, and support of the clinical teams using it.
In recent years, many new radiotherapy clinics have been established in these regions. RCC partners with these centers to help translate new infrastructure into effective clinical care - by providing practical training, mentorship, and shared expertise from experienced clinicians.
RCC is committed to working alongside local teams to improve patient outcomes, recognizing the economic, sociopolitical, and geographical factors that all play a role in cancer care.
