Background: Cancer patients may fail to distinguish COVID-19 symptoms such as anosmia, dysgeusia/ageusia, anorexia, headache, and fatigue, which are frequent after cancer treatments. We aimed to identify symptoms associated with COVID-19 and to assess the strength of their association in cancer and cancer-free populations. Methods: The multicenter cohort study PAPESCO-19 included 878 cancer patients and 940 healthcare workers (HCWs). At baseline and quarterly thereafter, they reported the presence or absence of 13 COVID-19 symptoms observed over 3 months and the results of routine screening RT-PCR, and they were systematically tested for SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. We identified the symptom combinations significantly associated with COVID-19. Results: Eight percent of cancer patients were COVID-19 positive, and 32% were symptomatic. Among the HCWs, these proportions were 9.5 and 52%, respectively. Anosmia, anorexia, fever, headache, and rhinorrhea together accurately discriminated (c-statistic = 0.7027) COVID-19 cases from cancer patients. Anosmia, dysgeusia/ageusia, muscle pain, intense fatigue, headache, and chest pain better discriminated (c-statistic = 0.8830) COVID-19 cases among the HCWs. Anosmia had the strongest association in both the cancer patients (OR = 7.48, 95% CI: 2.96–18.89) and HCWs (OR = 5.71, 95% CI: 2.21–14.75). Conclusions: COVID-19 symptoms and their diagnostic performance differ in the cancer patients and HCWs. Anosmia is associated with COVID-19 in cancer patients, while dysgeusia/ageusia is not. Cancer patients deserve tailored preventive measures due to their particular COVID-19 symptom pattern.
Background Older non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients under erlotinib are reported to experience more acute toxicity. We hypothesized that modifications in erlotinib pharmacokinetics might explain this observation. Methods A monocentric prospective clinico-pharmacological study included stage IIIb/IV NSCLC consecutive pts. treated with erlotinib. The plasma concentration of erlotinib (Ce) was measured at steady state on day 15. We studied the relationship between age > 75 years, and Ce, using the Mann-Whitney U test and with the occurrence of acute toxicity, using a Fisher's test. Results A total of 53 pts. were analyzed. Median age was 68 years (31-83), 56 % were female. All pts. > 75 years experienced toxicity: all grade acute adverse events were 1.6 fold more frequent (100 % vs 61 %; OR 95 % CI [1.9-INF]; p = 0.003). At day 15, Ce increased with age. Over 75 years old, the mean Ce was 1.5 fold higher: 2091 ng/mL (95 % CI [1476; 2706]) vs 1359 (95 % CI [1029; 1689]; p = 0.024). In pts. over 80 years old, the mean Ce was doubled: 2729 (95 % CI [1961; 3497]) vs 1358 ng/mL (95 % CI [1070; 1646]; p = 0.0019). Reduced lean body mass over 75 years (median 36.6 kg versus 49.1 kg) might account for these differences. Finally, the risk of early erlotinib discontinuation was increased by 11 in older pts. (33 % vs 3 % OR 17.2; 95 % CI [1.7; 892.5] p = .005). Conclusion The risk of overexposure to erlotinib increases with age. Reduced lean body mass may explain erlotinib pharmacokinetics and excessive acute toxicity in the elderly.
Background
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and the first cancer concerning mortality. Metastatic breast cancer remains a disease with a poor prognosis and about 30% of women diagnosed with an early stage will have a secondary progression. Metastatic breast cancer is an incurable disease despite significant therapeutic advances in both supportive cares and targeted specific therapies. In the management of a metastatic patient, each clinician follows a highly complex and strictly personal decision making process. It is based on a number of objective and subjective parameters which guides therapeutic choice in the most individualized or adapted manner.
Methods/design
The main objective is to integrate massive and heterogeneous data concerning the patient’s environment, personal and familial history, clinical and biological data, imaging, histological results (with multi-omics data), and microbiota analysis. These characteristics are multiple and in dynamic interaction overtime. With the help of mathematical units with biological competences and scientific collaborations, our project is to improve the comprehension of treatment response, based on health clinical and molecular heterogeneous big data investigation.
Discussion
Our project is to prove feasibility of creation of a clinico-biological database prospectively by collecting epidemiological, socio-economic, clinical, biological, pathological, multi-omic data and to identify characteristics related to the overall survival status before treatment and within 15 years after treatment start from a cohort of 300 patients with a metastatic breast cancer treated in the institution.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT03958136. Registration 21st of May, 2019; retrospectively registered.
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