Creating an Integrative Oncology Centre: The SolarisCare Experience

Background. Mucositis is an adverse effect of chemotherapy (QT) and/or radiotherapy (RT). The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence of oral mucositis in children undergoing cancer treatment. Methods. Fifty-one children with cancer who had received QT, RT, or both (QT-RT) underwent clinical evaluations; World Health Organization criteria were used to establish the degree and severity of mucositis. The correlations between the clinical data, type of cancer, and therapy were statistically analysed. Results. Mucositis was present in 88.23% of the patients; 57.78%, 7.78%, and 24.44% received QT, RT, and QT-RT, respectively. Severity scores of 1 and 2 were the most common; scores of 3-4 were observed in patients who received QT-RT or more than 7 treatment cycles. There was a significant association between mucositis, the type of treatment, and the number of cycles received (p<0.05). Conclusion. It is important to implement therapeutic protocols that help maintain excellent oral health and reduce the risk of oral mucositis. Stomatologists should be consulted to assess patients’ oral cavities and provide preventive treatment prior to QT and/or RT administration. It is important to integrate a stomatologist into the oncological working group to focus on preventing and managing oral mucositis.

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Safe Delivery of Surgical Care in Head and Neck Cancer Patients During COVID-19—an Audit of Pattern of Presentation and Treatment Strategies in an Oncology Centre in the Northern India

Indian Journal of Surgical Oncology ◽

10.1007/s13193-021-01399-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dipti Daga ◽

Aseem Mishra ◽

Sudhendu Shekhar Sharma ◽

Atul Kumar Rai ◽

Sunil Kumar Valsareddy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Head And Neck Cancer ◽

Head And Neck ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Neck Cancer ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Surgical Care ◽

Safe Delivery ◽

Northern India ◽

Oncology Centre

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Primary mediastinal germ cell tumours with high prevalence of somatic malignancy: An experience from a single tertiary care oncology centre

Annals of Diagnostic Pathology ◽

10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2021.151763 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 151763

Author(s):

Arshi Beg ◽

Rajiv Kumar ◽

Ayushi Sahay ◽

Amit Janu ◽

Amit Joshi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Germ Cell ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Germ Cell Tumours ◽

High Prevalence ◽

Oncology Centre

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COVID-19 Vaccine Safety in Cancer Patients: A Single Centre Experience

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13143573 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 3573

Author(s):

Alfred Chung Pui So ◽

Harriet McGrath ◽

Jonathan Ting ◽

Krishnie Srikandarajah ◽

Styliani Germanou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Patients ◽

Safety Data ◽

Vaccine Safety ◽

Phase Iii ◽

Solid Malignancy ◽

Common Grade ◽

Phase Iii Trials ◽

Oncology Care ◽

Grade 3 ◽

Oncology Centre

Emergency approval of vaccines against COVID-19 provides an opportunity for us to return to pre-pandemic oncology care. However, safety data in cancer patients is lacking due to their exclusion from most phase III trials. We included all patients aged less than 65 years who received a COVID-19 vaccine from 8 December 2020 to 28 February 2021 at our London tertiary oncology centre. Solicited and unsolicited vaccine-related adverse events (VRAEs) were collected using telephone or face-to-face consultation. Within the study period, 373 patients received their first dose of vaccine: Pfizer/BioNTech (75.1%), Oxford/AstraZeneca (23.6%), Moderna (0.3%), and unknown (1.1%). Median follow-up was 25 days (5–85). Median age was 56 years (19–65). Of the patients, 94.9% had a solid malignancy and 76.7% were stage 3–4. The most common cancers were breast (34.0%), lung (13.4%), colorectal (10.2%), and gynaecological (10.2%). Of the patients, 88.5% were receiving anti-cancer treatment (36.2% parenteral chemotherapy and 15.3% immunotherapy), 76.1% developed any grade VRAE of which 2.1% were grade 3. No grade 4/5 or anaphylaxis were observed. The most common VRAEs within 7 days post-vaccination were sore arm (61.7%), fatigue (18.2%), and headaches (12.1%). Most common grade 3 VRAE was fatigue (1.1%). Our results demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccines in oncology patients have mild reactogenicity.

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Biological Therapy with Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Innocuous Integrative Oncology: A Case of Cervical Cancer

Pharmaceutics ◽

10.3390/pharmaceutics13050626 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 626

Author(s):

Elvin Peter Chizenga ◽

Heidi Abrahamse

Keyword(s):

Cervical Cancer ◽

Alternative Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative Medicine ◽

Complex Disease ◽

Science Inquiry ◽

Behavioral Pattern ◽

Integrative Oncology ◽

Cancer Hallmarks ◽

Good Medicine ◽

Complementary And Alternative

Good medicine is based on good science, inquiry driven and open to new paradigms. For a complex disease such as cancer, a complex treatment regime that is well structured and multifactorial is indispensable. In the present day, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies are being used frequently for cancer, alongside modern biological therapies and allopathic medicine, in what is called integrative oncology. In all conscience, the use of natural, less invasive interventions whenever possible is ideal. However, a comprehensive understanding of not only the etiopathology of individual cancers, but also the detailed genetic and epigenetic characteristics, the cancer hallmarks, that clearly show the blueprint of the cancer phenotype is a requisite. Different tumors have a common behavioral pattern, but their specific features at the genetic and epigenetic levels vary to a great extent. Henceforth, with so many failed attempts to therapy, drug formulations and combinations need a focused pre-assessment of the inherent features of individual cancers to destroy the tumors holistically by targeting these features. This review therefore presents innocuous therapeutic regimes by means of CAM and integrative medicine approaches that can specifically target the hallmarks of cancer, using the case of cervical cancer.

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