COVID-19 Pandemic

Browsing: COVID-19 Pandemic

The latest news effecting cancer patients and oncology service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID‐19 outcomes of patients with gynaecologic cancer in New York City

By ONA Editor on August 3, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Gynaecologic Cancers, Treatment and Support

Women receiving standard treatment in New York City for ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancers are not at increased risk of being hospitalised for or dying from COVID-19 due to their cancer, a new study shows. The researchers found that neither having cancer nor receiving treatment for it, which can come with its own toxicities, worsened COVID-19 disease outcomes. Led by researchers at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center and NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the study showed that 121 women, ages 51 to 63, who were receiving standard treatments for such malignancies and who contracted the pandemic coronavirus had similar rates…

Nationwide trends in the US show fewer cancer patients seeking care since start of pandemic

By ONA Editor on July 29, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Screening & Prevention, Treatment and Support

Research from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center – Jefferson Health (SKCC), USA, found significant decreases nationwide in the number of patients being seen for cancer-related care as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed during the few first months of 2020. The most significant decline was seen in encounters related to new cancer incidences, which included screening, initial diagnosis, second opinion, and treatment initiation appointments. Anecdotal reports and physician surveys have suggested dramatic declines; however, this study, which was published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, is the largest to date to measure the effects of the pandemic on normal cancer care activities. “While it…

The Oncology Journal Club Episode 8

By ONA Editor on July 29, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Editor's Choice, Medical Oncology, Podcasts, The Oncology Journal Club

Today’s jam-packed episode includes an in-depth review of five key papers – an eclectic mix covering employment outcomes, extrachromosomal DNA, COVID-19 and RAF Inhibitors. We also have Quick Bites on medicinal cannabis and a quirky paper that concluded Japanese men with esophageal cancer had better outcomes if they have wives. We also have a special segment on Regional and Rural Practice with Craig Underhill with a surprise appearance by his esteemed colleagues Sabe Sabesan and Rob Zielinski. With top quality banter, papers you won’t hear of anywhere else and expert analysis from our Hosts, you are in for another great…

Melbourne’s leading head and neck cancer experts urge patients not to delay diagnosis and treatment

By ONA Editor on July 28, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Neuro-oncology, Head and Neck Cancers, Treatment and Support

World Head and Neck Cancer Day a timely reminder that cancer doesn’t stop during COVID-19 Leading head and neck surgeons and radiation oncologists from GenesisCare and St Vincent’s Hospital are urging Victorians not to ignore early signs and symptoms of head and neck cancer Warning comes amidst a drop in cancer screening and treatment referrals during COVID-19 Head and neck cancers associated with HPV infection are on the rise July 27 marks World Head and Neck Cancer Day which aims to raise awareness of head and neck cancers and highlight the steps Australians can take to reduce their risk Doctors…

Patients who lived longer with cancer at greater risk of severe COVID-19 infection

By ONA Editor on July 24, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

Cancer patients diagnosed more than 24 months ago are more likely to have a severe COVID-19 infection, research has found. Cancer patients of Asian ethnicity or who were receiving palliative treatment for cancer were also at a higher risk of death from COVID-19. The research published today in Frontiers in Oncology by researchers at King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust, and supported by the NIHR Guy’s and St Thomas’ BRC, UK, examined the relationship between cancer and COVID-19. There are limited studies investigating cancer patients and COVID-19, with small sample sizes that have yet to distinguish between…

AACR COVID-19 and cancer: Immunotherapy safe for patients with COVID-19

By ONA Editor on July 22, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Immunotherapy

Preliminary data from researchers at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, USA, show that immunotherapy doesn’t necessarily worsen complications for patients with both COVID-19 and cancer. This data was presented by Layne Weatherford, PhD, UC postdoctoral fellow, at the American Association for Cancer Research Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer. Weatherford works in the lab of Trisha Wise-Draper, PhD, an associate professor of medicine, Division of Haematology Oncology, at the UC College of Medicine, UC Health oncologist and medical director of the UC Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office. “Many COVID-19 complications result from an overactive immune response, leading to an increased…

Study strengthens calls to clear cancer diagnosis backlog

By ONA Editor on July 21, 2020 Commentary, COVID-19 Pandemic

Delays to cancer referral through reduced use of the urgent GP referral pathway during the coronavirus pandemic could result in more than a thousand additional deaths in England, a new study reports. New modelling suggests that delays in patients presenting and being referred with suspected cancer by their GP, and resulting bottlenecks in diagnostic services, are likely to have had a significant adverse effect on cancer survival. During lockdown, urgent so-called two-week wait GP referrals in England for suspected cancer have dropped by up to 84% – raising fears that undiagnosed cancers could be progressing from early-stage tumours to advanced,…

Cancer and loneliness: How inclusion could save lives

By ONA Editor on July 21, 2020 Commentary, COVID-19 Pandemic, Psycho-oncology

Aleem Bharwani, University of Calgary COVID-19 has ignited a worldwide conversation about inequality. The question is whether we just want to talk about inequity or make the changes to produce more fair outcomes. Focusing our efforts on one critical change would reduce disparities in some of the most pressing health issues of our time. That change is pluralism, the active process of inclusion: recognizing, valuing and respecting differences. We can recognize ethnic variability in cancer treatments by diversifying clinical trial recruitment and improve deadly loneliness by including patients in treatment design. Patients do better when differences are embraced rather than…

Coronavirus and cancer hijack the same parts in human cells to spread – and our team identified existing cancer drugs that could fight COVID-19

By ONA Editor on June 29, 2020 Cancer Drug News, Commentary, COVID-19 Pandemic, Treatment and Support

Nevan Krogan, University of California, San Francisco Most antivirals in use today target parts of an invading virus itself. Unfortunately, SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – has proven hard to kill. But viruses rely on cellular mechanisms in human cells to help them spread, so it should be possible to change an aspect of a person’s body to prevent that and slow down the virus enough to allow the immune system to fight the invader off. I am a quantitative biologist, and my lab built a map of how the coronavirus uses human cells. We used that map…

Researchers find that common cancer treatments don’t worsen coronavirus infection

By ONA Editor on June 26, 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Treatment and Support

The characterisation of COVID-19 in patients with cancer remains limited in published studies and nationwide surveillance analyses. Reports from China and Italy have raised the possibility that patients with cancer on active therapy have a higher risk of COVID-19 related severe events, although there is a knowledge gap as to which aspects of cancer and its treatment increase the risk of severe COVID-19 disease. A team of researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) reported on the epidemiology of COVID-19 illness experienced at an NCI-designated cancer centre during the height of pandemic in New York City. According to a…

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