COVID-19 Pandemic

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

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe for people with cancer according to a new study

By ONA Editor on February 10, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

New research in the February 2022 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network confirms that mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 are just as safe for people with cancer as they are for cancer-free individuals. Researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center tracked short-term side effects from more than 1,753 recipients of the Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine and found no additional reactions for patients undergoing active cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy) or who had completed treatment. “Patients, their families, and their medical caregivers should absolutely find these results reassuring.” We surveyed almost 2,000 patients and found that cancer patients aren’t at risk for…

Report details impact of COVID-19 on US cancer research and patient care

By ONA Editor on February 10, 2022 Commentary, COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have released the AACR Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Research and Patient Care. This first-of-its-kind report provides a comprehensive view of the burden of COVID-19 among patients with cancer; the challenges presented by the pandemic in cancer research and patient care; and the changes implemented during the pandemic that have unexpectedly improved research practices and access to care. Impact of COVID-19 on Patients with Cancer Research indicates that patients with cancer are at an increased risk for COVID-19 infection and severe disease. In addition, the interruptions caused by the pandemic may…

Nearly 50% of blood cancer patients insufficiently protected against omicron

By ONA Editor on February 7, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

Nearly 50% of blood cancer patients do not have detectable levels of antibodies able to neutralise the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant after a third vaccine dose, according to new laboratory data from the Francis Crick Institute and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the UK published as a Research letter in The Lancet. This is the first report of functional immunity against Omicron in a pan-cancer patient cohort and results highlight the importance of a 4th ‘booster’ dose for patients with blood cancers to protect them from the surge in Omicron cases. As part of the ongoing CAPTURE study, funded by The Royal Marsden…

The increasing overmedicalisation of death: Call for radical rethink of how society cares for dying people

By ONA Editor on February 2, 2022 Commentary, COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

Health and social systems around the world are failing to give appropriate, compassionate care to people who are dying and their families. According to a new Lancet Commission, today’s current overemphasis on aggressive treatments to prolong life, vast global inequities in palliative care access, and high end-of-life medical costs have lead millions of people to suffer unnecessarily at the end of life. The Commission calls for public attitudes to death and dying to be rebalanced, away from a narrow, medicalised approach towards a compassionate community model, where communities and families work with health and social care services to care for…

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted clinicians who care for children with cancer?

By ONA Editor on January 28, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News, Paediatric Oncology & AYA

New research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on paediatric oncology health care professionals worldwide, requiring significant staffing changes and causing physical, psychological, and financial distress. Published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study also found that clinicians were able to come together to continue to provide high-quality care for children with cancer, despite the challenges. During the pandemic, lockdowns and restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 led to widespread disruptions in medical care. To examine the effects on paediatric oncology providers, who were already strained by a shortage…

Cancer treatment may inhibit immune response to COVID-19 vaccination

By ONA Editor on January 28, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

A study by researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in the USA has found that patients with cancer who receive chemotherapy – and some targeted therapies, such as CDK4/6 inhibitors and therapies targeted at B cells – may mount an inadequate immune response to COVID-19 vaccination. The findings are published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovation, Quality & Outcomes. “It is important for patients with cancer who are receiving chemotherapy to receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” says Saranya Chumsri, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hematologist and oncologist, and author of the paper. Dr. Chumsri says this advice also applies to patients with cancer…

Late diagnosis has created a deadly cancer gap in the UK

By ONA Editor on January 14, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT) has launched the first Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Day to highlight the critical importance of early diagnosis in improving survival and quality of life for people diagnosed with these cancers. The LSCT represents six less survivable cancers, lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach, with an average five-year survival rate of just 16%. Together, these less survivable cancers make up nearly half of all common cancer deaths in the UK. Less survivable cancers are difficult to diagnose. Screening programmes are limited or non-existent and most of the general public are unaware of common symptoms. Data released by…

Study of fully vaccinated patients with cancer who had breakthrough COVID-19 shows 13 percent mortality rate

By ONA Editor on January 14, 2022 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

The first study to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of fully vaccinated patients with cancer who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections indicates they remained at high risk for hospitalization and death. The study, published Dec. 24 in Annals of Oncology showed that fully vaccinated patients who experienced breakthrough infections had a hospitalization rate of 65%, an ICU or mechanical ventilation rate of 19%, and a 13% death rate. The study was conducted by the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19), a group of 129 research centers that has been tracking the impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer since the beginning of the…

Prostate cancer medicine not a cure for COVID-19

By ONA Editor on December 23, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News, Prostate Cancer

“It’s disappointing, of course, that we weren’t able to find a way of reducing morbidity in COVID-19, and that the results weren’t in line with the theory as we’d hoped. But at the same time, it shows how important real studies are before you can know something works,” says Karin Welén, Associate Professor at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg The drug substance studied, enzalutamide, inhibits the function of the hormone testosterone, which in turn controls the expression of certain proteins. The drug can thereby slow down the progression of certain types of prostate cancer. Since a protein that is needed…

UK Cancer trial recruitment drops by 60 per cent during pandemic

By ONA Editor on December 14, 2021 Commentary, COVID-19 Pandemic, Latest News

The number of cancer patients entering clinical trials has plummeted during the pandemic – denying many thousands the latest treatment options and delaying the development of cutting-edge drugs and technologies. New figures show recruitment to cancer trials fell by nearly 60 per cent during the first year of the pandemic, amid warnings that Covid-19 has compounded longstanding issues with trial funding, regulation and access. Cancer experts set out a series of findings on the barriers to carrying out clinical trials in the UK, and proposals for boosting participation by enhancing information, changing treatment pathways and streamlining regulations. The Institute of…

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