scholarly journals Association of Clinical Factors and Recent Anti-Cancer Therapy with COVID-19 Severity among Patients with Cancer: A Report from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium

Author(s):  
P. Grivas ◽  
A.R. Khaki ◽  
T.M. Wise-Draper ◽  
B. French ◽  
C. Hennessy ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher C. T. Sng ◽  
Yien Ning Sophia Wong ◽  
Anjui Wu ◽  
Diego Ottaviani ◽  
Neha Chopra ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic remains a pressing concern to patients with cancer as countries enter the second peak of the pandemic and beyond. It remains unclear whether cancer and its treatment contribute an independent risk for mortality in COVID-19.MethodsWe included patients at a London tertiary hospital with laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. All patients with a history of solid cancer were included. Age- and sex-matched patients without cancer were randomly selected. Patients with hematological malignancies were excluded.ResultsWe identified 94 patients with cancer, matched to 226 patients without cancer. After adjusting for age, ethnicity, and co-morbidities, patients with cancer had increased mortality following COVID-19 (HR 1.57, 95% CI:1.04–2.4, p = 0.03). Increasing age (HR 1.49 every 10 years, 95% CI:1.25–1.8, p < 0.001), South Asian ethnicity (HR 2.92, 95% CI:1.73–4.9, p < 0.001), and cerebrovascular disease (HR 1.93, 95% CI:1.18–3.2, p = 0.008) also predicted mortality. Within the cancer cohort, systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) within 60 days of COVID-19 diagnosis was an independent risk factor for mortality (HR 2.30, 95% CI: 1.16–4.6, p = 0.02).ConclusionsAlong with known risk factors, cancer and SACT confer an independent risk for mortality following COVID-19. Further studies are needed to understand the socio-economic influences and pathophysiology of these associations.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (20) ◽  
pp. 4701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Wan Son ◽  
Han Yeoung Lee ◽  
Sokviseth Moeng ◽  
Hyo Jeong Kuh ◽  
Soo Young Choi ◽  
...  

Cancer is a global health concern and one of the main causes of disease-related death. Even with considerable progress in investigations on cancer therapy, effective anti-cancer agents and regimens have thus far been insufficient. There has been compelling evidence that natural phytochemicals and their derivatives have potent anti-cancer activities. Plant-based anti-cancer agents, such as etoposide, irinotecan, paclitaxel, and vincristine, are currently being applied in medical treatments for patients with cancer. Further, the efficacy of plenty of phytochemicals has been evaluated to discover a promising candidate for cancer therapy. For developing more effective cancer therapy, it is required to apprehend the molecular mechanism deployed by natural compounds. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been realized to play a pivotal role in regulating cellular signaling pathways, affecting the efficacy of therapeutic agents in cancer. This review presents a feature of phytochemicals with anti-cancer activity, focusing mainly on the relationship between phytochemicals and miRNAs, with insights into the role of miRNAs as the mediators and the regulators of anti-cancer effects of phytochemicals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 62-62
Author(s):  
Muhammad Azeem Khan ◽  
Clint S. Pettit ◽  
Hunter Groninger

62 Background: Patients with advanced cancer inevitably experience a functional decline that is often associated with notable symptom burden and/or indications for clarification of goals. Palliative care (PC) services frequently engage such patients during hospital stays. For many of these patients, discharge plans to sub-acute rehabilitation facilities (SAR) in order to ‘gain strength’ for future cancer treatment is a common practice. We wished to examine if inpatients with advanced cancer receiving PC consultation who are discharged to SAR are ever able to follow up with their oncology team and receive anti-cancer therapy. Methods: A search was conducted in our institution’s electronic medical system for hospitalized patients with cancer who received inpatient PC consultation and were subsequently discharged to SAR. Patients were excluded if they did not follow with an oncologist at MWHC as an out patient prior to the admission being reviewed or if they had never received anti cancer therapy before. Results: From 2015-2017, 16 patients meeting our criteria were identified. For 14 (82.4%) patients Palliative Care was consulted to either discuss goals of care and/or assist with pain management.13 (76%) patients were discharged to SAR to ‘improve strength’. However only 7 (44%) patients saw their oncologist after discharge from SAR. Of those 7 only 3 (19%) received further anti cancer therapy. 4 of the 7 (57%) patients that saw their oncologist after SAR had an ECOG of 1 on admission, the other 3 had an ECOG of 2. No patient with an ECOG of 2 or greater ever received cancer treatment again. Exactly half of the 16 patients were eventually readmitted to our hospital. Conclusions: SAR may not be an appropriate discharge disposition for patients with cancer who have a decline in functional status. Less than half the patients with cancer discharged to SAR from our institute with the intention to gain strength for future chemotherapy saw their oncologist again and the overwhelming majority (particularly those with an ECOG performance score of 2 and greater) never received anti cancer therapy again. This data can be considered to make informed decisions when discussing goals of care.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astha Thakkar ◽  
Kith Pradhan ◽  
Shawn Jindal ◽  
Zhu Cui ◽  
Bradley Rockwell ◽  
...  

Abstract Patients with cancer have been identified in several studies to be at high risk of developing severe COVID-19; however, rates of SARS-CoV-2 IgG seroconversion and its association with cancer types and anti-cancer therapy remain obscure. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in patients with cancer that underwent SARS-CoV-2 IgG testing. Two hundred and sixty-one cancer patients underwent SARS-CoV-2 IgG testing and demonstrated a high rate of seroconversion (92%). However, significantly lower seroconversion was observed in patients with hematologic malignancies (82%), patients that received anti-CD-20 antibody therapy (59%), CAR-T/cellular therapy (33%) and stem cell transplant (60%). Interestingly, all 17 patients that received immunotherapy, including 16 that received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies, developed SARS-Cov-2 IgG antibodies (100% seroconversion). These data show differential rates of seroconversion in specific patient groups and bear importance for clinical monitoring and vaccination strategies that are being developed to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 957-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milene Aparecida Andrade ◽  
Mariana Aparecida Braga ◽  
Pedro Henrique Souza Cesar ◽  
Marcus Vinicius Cardoso Trento ◽  
Mariana Araújo Espósito ◽  
...  

Background: Essential oils are complex mixtures of low molecular weight compounds extracted from plants. Their main constituents are terpenes and phenylpropanoids, which are responsible for their biological and pharmaceutical properties, such as insecticidal, parasiticidal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antinociceptive, anticarcinogenic, and antitumor properties. Cancer is a complex genetic disease considered as a serious public health problem worldwide, accounting for more than 8 million deaths annually. Objective: The activities of prevention and treatment of different types of cancer and the medicinal potential of essential oils are addressed in this review. Conclusion: Several studies have demonstrated anti-carcinogenic and antitumor activity for many essential oils obtained from various plant species. They may be used as a substitution to or in addition to conventional anti-cancer therapy. Although many studies report possible mechanisms of action for essential oils compounds, more studies are necessary in order to apply them safely and appropriately in cancer therapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-268
Author(s):  
Tanmay Upadhyay ◽  
Vaseem A. Ansari ◽  
Usama Ahmad ◽  
Nazneen Sultana ◽  
Juber Akhtar

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide, accounting for 8.8 million deaths in 2015. Among these, at least 0.78 million people died of liver cancer alone. The recognized risk factors for liver cancer include chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, exposure to dietary aflatoxin, fatty liver disease, alcohol-induced cirrhosis, obesity, smoking, diabetes, and iron overload. The treatment plan for early diagnosed patients includes radiation therapy, tumour ablation, surgery, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy. Some sort of drug delivery vehicles has to be used when the treatment plan is targeted chemotherapy. Nanoemulsions are a class of biphasic liquid dosage form which are mixtures of oil and water stabilized by a surfactant. They are either transparent or bluish in hue and serve as a wonderful carrier system for chemotherapeutic drugs. These vehicles have a particle size in the range of 20-200 nm allowing them to be delivered successfully in the deepest of tissues. Recent publications on nanoemulsions reveal their acceptance and a popular choice for delivering both synthetic and herbal drugs to the liver. This work focuses on some anti-cancer agents that utilized the advantages of nanoemulsion for liver cancer therapy.


Author(s):  
Orla Fitzpatrick ◽  
Roisin Ní Dhonaill ◽  
Anna Linehan ◽  
Zac Coyne ◽  
Maeve Hennessy ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Ireland was on February 29th 2020. From March until late April, the number of cases increased exponentially. The delivery of anti-cancer therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic was extremely challenging. In order to balance the benefits of continuing anti-cancer therapy with the associated increased hospital visits, combined with the risk of COVID-19 infection, we undertook a series of system changes in the delivery of cancer care. Methods Patients who attended our dayward over a 4-month period were included. Data were obtained from patient and chemotherapy prescribing records. Patients were screened for symptoms of COVID-19 at two separate timepoints: prior to their visit via telephone, and using a symptom questionnaire on arrival at the hospital. If patients displayed COVID-19 symptoms, they were isolated and a viral swab arranged. Results A total of 456 patients attended from January 1st to April 30th. The numbers of visits from January to April were 601, 586, 575, and 607, respectively. During this period, there were 2369 patient visits to the dayward and 1953 (82%) intravenous regimens administered. Of the 416 visits that did not lead to treatment, 114 (27%) were scheduled non-treatment review visits, 194 (47%) treatments were held due to disease-related illness, and 108 (26%) treatments were held due to treatment-related complications. Screening measurements were implemented on March 18th due to rising COVID-19 prevalence in the general population. Overall, 53 treatments were held due to the screening process: 19 patients (36%) elicited COVID-19 symptoms via telephone screening; 34 patients (64%) were symptomatic in our pre-assessment area and referred for swabs, of which 4 were positive. Those with a negative swab were rescheduled for chemotherapy the following week. Conclusions With careful systematic changes, safe and continued delivery of systemic anti-cancer therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic is possible.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document