COVID-19 Pandemic

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

Tool to drive collaboration in cancer and Covid-19 research launched

By ONA Editor on September 24, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic

The cancer and Covid-19 research dashboard is a public resource that lists research projects looking at the impact of Covid-19 on cancer care and patients. The dashboard was developed by NCRI, Cancer Research UK, the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS), and the Cancer Alliance Data, Evaluation and Analysis Service (CADEAS), UK. The intention is to drive collaborations in the field and identify gaps in research activity or opportunities for new research. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted cancer services and patients, driving new research into quantifying and understanding this impact across the pathway, including changes to the detection, treatment,…

COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in patients with blood cancers

By ONA Editor on September 24, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic

In a study titled “Disease and therapy-specific impact on humoural immune responses to COVID-19 vaccination in hematologic malignancies,” researchers reported that patients with leukaemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma all had fewer antibodies at one and three months post-vaccination than people without cancer. Peak antibody response was stronger in females than males, and the Moderna vaccine elicited a stronger response than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Lead author David J. Chung, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and colleagues also found that many patients had insufficient neutralising capacity following vaccination despite positive antibody titers. This study represents the largest dataset…

ESMO 2021: Evidence suggests that COVID vaccines do protect patients with cancer

By ONA Editor on September 22, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic, Events

The long-awaited confirmation of the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with cancer has arrived, on time to be disseminated to a global audience at the annual congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO Congress 2021), the leading professional society for medical oncology. With a multitude of studies supporting similar conclusions still to be presented, new research revealed today that individuals with cancer have an appropriate, protective immune response to vaccination without experiencing any more side-effects than the general population. Indirect evidence suggests that a third “booster” shot could further increase the level of protection among this patient population. As…

Smoking among young adults increased by 25% during first lockdown

By ONA Editor on September 21, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic, Lifestyle, Nutrition & Environment

The number of 18 to 34 year-olds in England who smoke increased by 25% in the first lockdown, according to a study published in the journal Addiction and funded by Cancer Research UK. This equates to over 652,000 more young adults smoking compared to before the pandemic, according to the charity’s estimates. The researchers also found that the number of high-risk drinkers rose by 40%, meaning that, during the first lockdown, over 4.5 million adults would be classed as high-risk drinkers. This trend was particularly worrying in women (up 55%) as well as people from lower socioeconomic groups (up 64%). There’s no ‘safe’ level…

Doctor mental health concerns increase as COVID surge hits hospitals

By ONA Editor on September 16, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic, Editor's Choice

There is increasing concern about rising rates of mental ill-health and suicide among doctors. We seek their advice when we’re not well. They comfort us with their expertise, and we trust them to perform life-saving procedures in high-risk scenarios. Yet, from the outside, we often don’t appreciate the stressors that come with being a highly skilled medical doctor and the mental health toll this uniquely high-pressure occupation can take. A recent review led by the Black Dog Institute and UNSW Sydney that was published in The Lancet has revealed doctors are at increased risk of suicide and, in their early years of training, one-quarter to one-third reported significant mental ill-health. The researchers said while this was an increasing issue even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there is emerging evidence that the impact of…

NSW risks a second larger COVID peak by Christmas if it eases restrictions too quickly

By ONA Editor on September 16, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic

C Raina MacIntyre, UNSW New South Wales plans to relax restrictions when vaccination targets of 70% and 80% of those aged 16 years and over are met. The national plan was based on the assumption there would be just 30 cases when restrictions were lifted. However, NSW may have cases in the hundreds or thousands when restrictions are relaxed. The current discussion has been around “the peak” occurring during current restrictions. But modelling from my team at UNSW shows if current restrictions are relaxed while a large proportion of the community is unvaccinated, a larger, second peak may occur that…

Nasal spray could help prevent viral infections in cancer patients

By ONA Editor on September 14, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic

Peter Mac’s C-SMART trial continues to investigate whether daily use of a medicated nasal spray could be protect cancer patients from viral respiratory infections, including COVID-19. Melbourne’s C-SMART trial is relaunching the next phase of an important study looking at whether a nasal spray could prove effective in our fight against COVID-19 and other viruses. Led by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC), the trial is studying whether a low dose of the drug Interferon-alpha (delivered as a daily nasal spray) could help protect those with compromised immune systems from COVID-19. Interferon…

Designing a cancer vaccine using Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine tech

By ONA Editor on September 14, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic, Immunotherapy

Scientists from the University of Oxford and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research are building on the success of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 to develop a vaccine to treat cancer. Researchers have designed a two-dose therapeutic cancer vaccine using Oxford’s viral vector vaccine technology. When tested in mouse tumour models, the cancer vaccine increased the levels of anti-tumour T cells infiltrating the tumours and improved the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Compared to immunotherapy alone, the combination with the vaccine showed a greater reduction in tumour size and improved the survival of the mice. The study, which was done by…

Oncology research rebounds from pandemic low, but shows cancer patients need special attention after COVID 19 recovery

By ONA Editor on September 13, 2021 COVID-19 Pandemic, Events

At the opening press conference of the ESMO Congress 2021, President Solange Peters announced that ESMO, the leading professional society for medical oncology, is launching the International Cancer Foundation, ICF by its acronym, which has taken upon itself a mission to support activities that enhance cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up in every country where they are needed, with the ultimate goal of saving lives by ensuring that the best treatment is available to every cancer patient worldwide. “Immunotherapy is being shown to work across many diseases and new drugs are on the horizon in the precision oncology field, but as…

Study finds drop in breast cancer screening rates in low-income communities during the pandemic

By ONA Editor on August 31, 2021 Breast Cancer, COVID-19 Pandemic, Screening & Prevention

A new study finds breast cancer screening rates (BCSR) declined among women aged 50 to 74 years within 32 community health centres that serve lower-income populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The report, appearing in the journal, CANCER, suggests that breast cancer screening rates within community clinics in low-income communities declined by 8% from July 2019-2020, reversing an 18% improvement between July 2018-2019. This is one of the first studies to examine BCSRs among lower-income populations during the pandemic. Investigators led by Stacey Fedewa, PhD of the American Cancer Society, examined BCSRs among 32 community health centres that…

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