Bridging the Gap: Scenario Planning for Science and Technology in Breast Cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Biotechnology
• Health Sciences

Background:

• Scientific research and technological advancements are crucial for public health.
• Disparities in the growth rates of academic literature and patents can create gaps in critical research areas, such as breast cancer.
• This study addresses the disconnect between scientific discovery and technological application in breast cancer research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and bridge the gap between scientific research and technological development in the field of breast cancer.
• To utilize scenario planning as a method for foresight in breast cancer research.
• To analyze the asynchrony between scientific publications and patents in breast cancer.

Main Methods:

• A foresight study employing the scenario technique.
• Analysis of 191,871 breast cancer papers and 9,085 patents (2012-2021) from Web of Science and PATSTAT.
• Text mining using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling to identify subject clusters and asynchronous areas.

Main Results:

• Breast cancer scientific output significantly exceeds technological advancements, revealing critical gaps.
• Scientific papers focus on genetic mutations, hormone receptors, diet, and environmental factors.
• Patents explore areas like herbal medicine, medical devices, protective clothing, and microRNA therapies, highlighting a divergence.

Conclusions:

• Four scenarios were developed to address identified science-technology gaps in breast cancer research.
• Key strategies for bridging the gap include strengthening stakeholder relationships, fostering cooperative networks, and creating collaborative incentive systems.
• These actions are crucial for aligning scientific progress with technological application in breast cancer research.