scholarly journals A virtual-hybrid approach to launching a cardio-oncology clinic during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry-Ann Brown ◽  
Sahishnu Patel ◽  
David Rayan ◽  
Svetlana Zaharova ◽  
Mingqian Lin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background As cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in cancer survivors, the new subspecialty of Cardio-Oncology has emerged to address prevention, monitoring, and management of cardiovascular toxicities to cancer therapies. During the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we developed a Virtual-Hybrid Approach to build a de novo Cardio-Oncology Clinic. Methods We conceptualized a Virtual-Hybrid Approach including three arms: information seeking in locations with existing Cardio-Oncology clinics, information gathering at the location for a new clinic, and information sharing to report clinic-building outcomes. A retrospective review of outcomes included collection and synthesis of data from our first 3 months (at pandemic peak) on types of appointments, cancers, drugs, and cardiotoxicities. Data were presented using descriptive statistics. Results A de-novo Cardio-Oncology clinic was developed structured from the ground up to integrate virtual and in-person care in a hybrid and innovative model, using the three arms of the Virtual-Hybrid Approach. First, we garnered in-person and virtual preparation through hands-on experiences, training, and discussions in existing Cardio-Oncology Clinics and conferences. Next, we gleaned information through virtual inquiry and niche-building. With partners throughout the institution, a virtual referral process was established for outpatient referrals and inpatient e-consult referrals to actualize a hybrid care spectrum for our patients administered by a multidisciplinary hybrid care team of clinicians, ancillary support staff, and clinical pharmacists. Among the multi-subspecialty clinic sessions, approximately 50% were in Cardio-Oncology, 20% in Preventive Cardiology, and 30% in General Cardiology. In the hybrid model, the Heart & Vascular Center had started to re-open, allowing for 65% of our visits to be in person. In additional analyses, the most frequent cardiovascular diagnosis was cardiomyopathy (34%), the most common cancer drug leading to referral was trastuzumab (29%), and the most prevalent cancer type was breast cancer (42%). Conclusion This Virtual-Hybrid Approach and retrospective review provides guidance and information regarding initiating a brand-new Cardio-Oncology Clinic during the pandemic for cancer patients/survivors. This report also furnishes virtual resources for patients, virtual tools for oncologists, cardiologists, and administrators tasked with starting new clinics during the pandemic, and innovative future directions for this digital pandemic to post-pandemic era.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Zakaria Nassef ◽  
Daniela Melnik ◽  
Sascha Kopp ◽  
Jayashree Sahana ◽  
Manfred Infanger ◽  
...  

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in females. The incidence has risen dramatically during recent decades. Dismissed as an “unsolved problem of the last century”, breast cancer still represents a health burden with no effective solution identified so far. Microgravity (µg) research might be an unusual method to combat the disease, but cancer biologists decided to harness the power of µg as an exceptional method to increase efficacy and precision of future breast cancer therapies. Numerous studies have indicated that µg has a great impact on cancer cells; by influencing proliferation, survival, and migration, it shifts breast cancer cells toward a less aggressive phenotype. In addition, through the de novo generation of tumor spheroids, µg research provides a reliable in vitro 3D tumor model for preclinical cancer drug development and to study various processes of cancer progression. In summary, µg has become an important tool in understanding and influencing breast cancer biology.


Blood ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 132 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 2298-2298
Author(s):  
Raffi Tchekmedyian ◽  
Tomas Radivoyevitch ◽  
Aaron T. Gerds ◽  
Aziz Nazha ◽  
Hetty E. Carraway ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The development of therapy-related AML (t-AML) is a rare but fatal complication of cancer therapies, with varying leukemogenicity associated with individual chemotherapies and radiation modalities. In recent years, there is an increase in t-AML incidence explained by increased use of cancer therapies and increased cancer survivorship. We investigated changes in t-AML outcomes over time among cancer patients (pts) treated with chemotherapy and radiation using data from population-based cancer registries in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program of the US. Methods A previously validated R package (SEERaBomb) was used to query all 18 SEER registries to identify adult pts (≥15 years) with multiple types of primary malignancies who were treated with chemotherapy and radiation, and subsequently developed AML. Pts were observed from the date of first diagnosis of a primary malignancy until occurrence of AML as a second cancer, death, loss to follow-up or end of the study period, whichever occurred earlier. Cases of AML that developed at least 1 year following diagnosis and treatment of a primary malignancy were classified as t-AML. Primary cancers associated with at least 100 t-AML cases were included. Survival probabilities were compared for pts with: (1) primary cancers which did and did not subsequently develop AML, (2) primary (de novo) AML, and t-AML. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with overall survival (OS) in the t-AML cohort, including the following covariates: age group [adolescents and young adults (AYA) (15-39 years); middle-aged (40-59); and older adults (≥60)], sex, year of diagnosis, race, primary cancer type, and whether or not treatment was received for t-AML. Tests of significance were based on two-sided hypothesis at the .05 level. Results A total of 1,425,840 adult cancer pts diagnosed between the years 1973-2015 were assembled from all 18 SEER registries which included 1,392,784 primary cancers, 31,112 primary AML cases and 1,944 t-AML cases [breast (781), lung (205), lymphoma (612), and prostate (346)]. Median survival of t-AML in months (m) with (range) by primary site was as follows: breast: 5.5m (0.5-263); lymphoma: 4.5m (0.5-255.5); lung: 1.5m (0.5-178.5); and prostate: 3.5m (0.5-196.5); combined: 3.5m (0.5-263). Median latency periods in years (y) with (range) to develop t-AML were as follows: breast: 3y (1-38); lymphoma: 4y (1-30); lung: 2y (1-22); and prostate: 4y (1-18); combined: 4y (1-39) . Figure 1 shows comparison of survival probabilities of primary malignancies with and without subsequent development of t-AML over three time periods (1973-1990, 1991-2005 and 2006-2015) organized by year of diagnosis and primary cancer type. Development of t-AML was significantly associated with worse survival for all the four primaries that contribute to the bulk of t-AML cases. Figure 2 shows survival probabilities of primary (de novo) AML versus t-AML (all pooled cases). In multivariate analyses, the hazard ratio (HR) of death was significantly higher in older adults [vsAYA, 1.39 (95% CI 1.11-1.75)] but not middle-aged adults [vsAYA, 0.931 (95% CI 0.738-1.175)], lower in other races [vsCaucasian, 0.81 (95% CI 0.66-0.988)] but not in African Americans [vsCaucasian, 1.078 (95% CI 0.917-1.267)] and lower in those diagnosed between the years 2006-2015 [vs1973-1990, 0.69 (95% CI 0.58-0.82)]. Pts treated for their t-AML had a HR of death significantly lower than those who did not receive treatment [0.426 (95% CI 0.38-0.47)]. There was no significant difference in HR between male and female patients [0.971 (95% CI 0.839-1.123)]. When analyzed by treatment periods, there was no difference noted between the time periods 1973-1990 and 1991-2005 [0.878 (95% CI 0.737-1.045)]. Among primary cancer type, only those t-AML cases preceded by lung cancers had a significantly higher HR of death {[lung vsbreast, 1.56 (95% CI 1.27-1.92)]; [lymphoma vs breast, 1.006 (95% CI 0.847-1.194)]; [prostate vsbreast, 0.861 (95% CI 0.679-1.093)]. Conclusions In our population based analysis, we show that although the OS of t-AML is significantly worse than primary AML, those t-AML diagnosed and treated in recent years (2006-2015) had significantly better survival compared to earlier treatment periods. Among all primaries, outcomes of t-AML particularly following lung cancers are dismal compared to other primaries. Disclosures Gerds: Celgene: Consultancy; Apexx Oncology: Consultancy; CTI Biopharma: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy. Nazha:MEI: Consultancy. Carraway:FibroGen: Consultancy; Jazz: Speakers Bureau; Balaxa: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Agios: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau; Novartis: Speakers Bureau. Maciejewski:Apellis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Apellis Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc: Consultancy; Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc: Consultancy. Majhail:Incyte: Honoraria; Anthem, Inc.: Consultancy; Atara: Honoraria. Sekeres:Opsona: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Opsona: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 659
Author(s):  
Hon Yan Kelvin Yip ◽  
Antonella Papa

Molecular alterations in cancer genes and associated signaling pathways are used to inform new treatments for precision medicine in cancer. Small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies directed at relevant cancer-related proteins have been instrumental in delivering successful treatments of some blood malignancies (e.g., imatinib with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)) and solid tumors (e.g., tamoxifen with ER positive breast cancer and trastuzumab for HER2-positive breast cancer). However, inherent limitations such as drug toxicity, as well as acquisition of de novo or acquired mechanisms of resistance, still cause treatment failure. Here we provide an up-to-date review of the successes and limitations of current targeted therapies for cancer treatment and highlight how recent technological advances have provided a new level of understanding of the molecular complexity underpinning resistance to cancer therapies. We also raise three basic questions concerning cancer drug discovery based on molecular markers and alterations of selected signaling pathways, and further discuss how combination therapies may become the preferable approach over monotherapy for cancer treatments. Finally, we consider novel therapeutic developments that may complement drug delivery and significantly improve clinical response and outcomes of cancer patients.


Author(s):  
Shuang Qiu ◽  
Zheng An ◽  
Renbo Tan ◽  
Ping-an He ◽  
Jingjing Jing ◽  
...  

Abstract Data from the SEER reports reveal that the occurrence rate of a cancer type generally follows a unimodal distribution over age, peaking at an age that is cancer-type specific and ranges from 30+ through 70+. Previous studies attribute such bell-shaped distributions to the reduced proliferative potential in senior years but fail to explain why some cancers have their occurrence peak at 30+ or 40+. We present a computational model to offer a new explanation to such distributions. The model uses two factors to explain the observed age-dependent cancer occurrence rates: cancer risk of an organ and the availability level of the growth signals in circulation needed by a cancer type, with the former increasing and the latter decreasing with age. Regression analyses were conducted of known occurrence rates against such factors for triple negative breast cancer, testicular cancer and cervical cancer; and all achieved highly tight fitting results, which were also consistent with clinical, gene-expression and cancer-drug data. These reveal a fundamentally important relationship: while cancer is driven by endogenous stressors, it requires sufficient levels of exogenous growth signals to happen, hence suggesting the realistic possibility for treating cancer via cleaning out the growth signals in circulation needed by a cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 175628482110244
Author(s):  
Vanessa Wookey ◽  
Axel Grothey

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer type in both men and women in the USA. Most patients with CRC are diagnosed as local or regional disease. However, the survival rate for those diagnosed with metastatic disease remains disappointing, despite multiple treatment options. Cancer therapies for patients with unresectable or metastatic CRC are increasingly being driven by particular biomarkers. The development of various immune checkpoint inhibitors has revolutionized cancer therapy over the last decade by harnessing the immune system in the treatment of cancer, and the role of immunotherapy continues to expand and evolve. Pembrolizumab is an anti-programmed cell death protein 1 immune checkpoint inhibitor and has become an essential part of the standard of care in the treatment regimens for multiple cancer types. This paper reviews the increasing evidence supporting and defining the role of pembrolizumab in the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic CRC.


Author(s):  
Lauren Marshall ◽  
Isabel Löwstedt ◽  
Paul Gatenholm ◽  
Joel Berry

The objective of this study was to create 3D engineered tissue models to accelerate identification of safe and efficacious breast cancer drug therapies. It is expected that this platform will dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with development and regulatory approval of anti-cancer therapies, currently a multi-billion dollar endeavor [1]. Existing two-dimensional (2D) in vitro and in vivo animal studies required for identification of effective cancer therapies account for much of the high costs of anti-cancer medications and health insurance premiums borne by patients, many of whom cannot afford it. An emerging paradigm in pharmaceutical drug development is the use of three-dimensional (3D) cell/biomaterial models that will accurately screen novel therapeutic compounds, repurpose existing compounds and terminate ineffective ones. In particular, identification of effective chemotherapies for breast cancer are anticipated to occur more quickly in 3D in vitro models than 2D in vitro environments and in vivo animal models, neither of which accurately mimic natural human tumor environments [2]. Moreover, these 3D models can be multi-cellular and designed with extracellular matrix (ECM) function and mechanical properties similar to that of natural in vivo cancer environments [3].


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 178
Author(s):  
Faruque Azam ◽  
Alexei Vazquez

Background: Drug combinations are the standard of care in cancer treatment. Identifying effective cancer drug combinations has become more challenging because of the increasing number of drugs. However, a substantial number of cancer drugs stumble at Phase III clinical trials despite exhibiting favourable efficacy in the earlier Phase. Methods: We analysed recent Phase II cancer trials comprising 2165 response rates to uncover trends in cancer therapies and used a null model of non-interacting agents to infer synergistic and antagonistic drug combinations. We compared our latest efficacy dataset with a previous dataset to assess the progress of cancer therapy. Results: Targeted therapies reach higher response rates when used in combination with cytotoxic drugs. We identify four synergistic and 10 antagonistic combinations based on the observed and expected response rates. We demonstrate that recent targeted agents have not significantly increased the response rates. Conclusions: We conclude that either we are not making progress or response rate measured by tumour shrinkage is not a reliable surrogate endpoint for the targeted agents.


2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 4626-4631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilia Talarico ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Richard Pazdur

Purpose To analyze the age-related enrollment of cancer patients onto registration trials of new drugs or new indications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration from 1995 to 2002. Patients and Methods This study involved retrospective analyses of demographic data of cancer patients enrolled onto registration trials. The data on 28,766 cancer patients from 55 registration trials were analyzed according to age distributions of ≥ 65, ≥ 70, and ≥ 75 years. The rates of enrollment in each age group for each cancer were compared with the corresponding rates in the US cancer population. The age distributions of the US cancer population were derived from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program of the National Cancer Institute for the period 1995 to 1999 based on the 2000 US Census. Results The proportions of the overall patient populations aged ≥ 65, ≥ 70, and ≥ 75 years were 36%, 20%, and 9% compared with 60%, 46%, and 31%, respectively, in the US cancer population. Statistically significant under-representation of the elderly (P < .001) was noted in registration trials for all cancer treatment except for breast cancer hormonal therapies. Patients aged ≥ 70 years accounted for most of the under-representation. Conclusion Elderly were under-represented in the registration trials of new cancer therapies. Various strategies may be needed to evaluate cancer therapies for the elderly in prospective clinical trials and to improve cancer care in the elderly population.


2020 ◽  
pp. 71-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayaram Kancherla ◽  
Shruti Rao ◽  
Krithika Bhuvaneshwar ◽  
Rebecca B. Riggins ◽  
Robert A. Beckman ◽  
...  

PURPOSE In this work, we introduce CDGnet (Cancer-Drug-Gene Network), an evidence-based network approach for recommending targeted cancer therapies. CDGnet represents a user-friendly informatics tool that expands the range of targeted therapy options for patients with cancer who undergo molecular profiling by including the biologic context via pathway information. METHODS CDGnet considers biologic pathway information specifically by looking at targets or biomarkers downstream of oncogenes and is personalized for individual patients via user-inputted molecular alterations and cancer type. It integrates a number of different sources of knowledge: patient-specific inputs (molecular alterations and cancer type), US Food and Drug Administration–approved therapies and biomarkers (curated from DailyMed), pathways for specific cancer types (from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes [KEGG]), gene-drug connections (from DrugBank), and oncogene information (from KEGG). We consider 4 different evidence-based categories for therapy recommendations. Our tool is delivered via an R/Shiny Web application. For the 2 categories that use pathway information, we include an interactive Sankey visualization built on top of d3.js that also provides links to PubChem. RESULTS We present a scenario for a patient who has estrogen receptor (ER)–positive breast cancer with FGFR1 amplification. Although many therapies exist for patients with ER-positive breast cancer, FGFR1 amplifications may confer resistance to such treatments. CDGnet provides therapy recommendations, including PIK3CA, MAPK, and RAF inhibitors, by considering targets or biomarkers downstream of FGFR1. CONCLUSION CDGnet provides results in a number of easily accessible and usable forms, separating targeted cancer therapies into categories in an evidence-based manner that incorporates biologic pathway information.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 3919-3919
Author(s):  
Georg Seifert ◽  
Holger N. Lode ◽  
Stephan Lobitz ◽  
Karl Seeger ◽  
Alfred Laengler ◽  
...  

Abstract Anthroposophical cancer therapies focus on the use of mistletoe (MT) preparations and extracts from European mistletoe (Viscum album l.) belong to the complementary therapeutic regimens. Although widely used in Europe as an additional therapy in the treatment of patients suffering from different malignancies, these cancer therapies have remained relatively unknown in North America. To date, mistletoe is the most commonly used complementary cancer drug in Germany, applied as monotherapy or in combination with conventional therapies. ABNOBAviscum fraxini is a standardized extract from all parts of fresh mistle, obtained from the ash tree. This study aims to investigate the effects of MT on the activity of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cell cytotoxicity in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that in vivo treatment of mice with a standardized MT plant extract results in activation and function of LAK cells. We show an enhanced cytotoxicity against the NK-sensitive target cell line YAC-1 by flow cytometry. Our data show that in vivo application of MT can double the cytotoxic activity against malignant disease and suggest that one mechasim of action of MT is the induction of LAK-cell mediated immune response.


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