Background: On February 23rd, the 1st case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was diagnosed at the University Hospital Trust of Verona, Italy. On March 13th, the Oncology Section was converted into a 22-inpatient bed coronavirus disease (COVID) Unit, and we reshaped our organisation to face the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, while maintaining oncological activities. Methods: We tracked down (i) volumes of oncological activities (January 1st -March 31st, 2020 versus the same period of 2019), (ii) patients' and caregivers' perception and (iii) SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in oncology health professionals and SARS-CoV-2 infection erelated hospital admissions of "active"' oncological patients. Results: As compared with the same trimester in 2019, the overall reduction in total numbers of inpatient admissions, chemotherapy administrations and specialist visits in JanuaryeMarch 2020 was 8%, 6% and 3%, respectively; based on the weekly average of daily accesses, reduction in some of the oncological activities became statistically significant from week 11. The overall acceptance of adopted measures, as measured by targeted questionnaires administered to a sample of 241 outpatients, was high (>70%). Overall, 8 of 85 oncology health professionals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection (all but one employed in the COVID Unit, no hospital admissions and no treatment required); among 471 patients admitted for SARS-CoV-2 infection, 7 had an "active"' oncological disease (2 died of infection-related complications). Conclusions: A slight, but statistically significant reduction in oncology activity was registered during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic peak in Verona, Italy. Organisational and protective measures adopted appear to have contributed to keep infections in both oncological patients and health professionals to a minimum.
Infectious diseases represent a relevant issue in lung cancer patients. Bacterial and viral infections might influence the patients’ prognosis, both directly affecting the immune system and indirectly impairing the outcome of anticancer treatments, mainly immunotherapy. In this analysis, we aimed to review the current evidence in order to clarify the complex correlation between infections and lung cancer. In detail, we mainly explored the potential impact on immunotherapy outcome/safety of (1) bacterial infections, with a detailed focus on antibiotics; and (2) viral infections, discriminating among (a) human immune-deficiency virus (HIV), (b) hepatitis B/C virus (HBV-HCV), and (c) Sars-Cov-2. A series of studies suggested the prognostic impact of antibiotic therapy administration, timing, and exposure ratio in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, probably through an antibiotic-related microbiota dysbiosis. Although cancer patients with HIV, HBV, and HCV were usually excluded from clinical trials evaluating immunotherapy, some retrospective and prospective trials performed in these patient subgroups reported similar results compared to those described in not-infected patients, with a favorable safety profile. Moreover, patients with thoracic cancers are particularly at risk of COVID-19 severe outcomes and mortality. Few reports speculated about the prognostic implications of anticancer therapy, including immunotherapy, in lung cancer patients with concomitant Sars-Cov-2 infection, showing, to date, inconsistent results. The correlation between infectious diseases and immunotherapy remains to be further explored and clarified in the context of dedicated trials. In clinical practice, the accurate and prompt multidisciplinary management of lung cancer patients with infections should be encouraged in order to select the best treatment options for these patients, avoiding unexpected toxicities, while maintaining the anticancer effect.
Background: The current treatment landscape of early stage lung cancer is rapidly evolving, particularly in EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), where target therapy is moving to early stages. In the current review, we collected the available data exploring the impact of EGFR targeting in both neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings, underlying lights and shadows and discussing the existing open issues. Methods: We performed a comprehensive search using PubMed and the proceedings of major international meetings to identify neoadjuvant/adjuvant trials with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in NSCLC. Results: Limited data are available so far about the activity/efficacy of neoadjuvant TKIs in EGFR mutant NSCLC, with only modest downstaging and pathological complete response rates reported. Differently, the ADAURA trial already proposed osimertinib as a potential new standard of care in resected NSCLC harboring an activating EGFR mutation. Conclusion: Anticipating targeted therapy to early stage EGFR mutant NSCLC presents great opportunities but also meaningful challenges in the current therapeutic/diagnostic pathway of lung cancer care. Appropriate endpoint(s) selection for clinical trials, disease progression management, patients’ and treatment selection, as well as need to address the feasibility of molecular profiling anticipation, represent crucial issues to face before innovation can move to early stages.
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ICI only for the possible occurrence of COVID-19. Measures for reducing hospital visits have been adopted by choosing the ICIs schedule with fewer administrations, adopting the highest labeled dose of each drug (55.8%) and/or choosing, among different ICIs for the same indication, the one with the longer interval between cycles (30.8%). 53.8% of respondents suggested the need to test for SARS-CoV-2 every cancer patient candidate to ICIs. Regarding differential diagnosis between immunerelated adverse events (irAEs) and COVID-19 manifestations, 71.2% of respondents declared to manage a patient with onset of dyspnea and cough like a COVID-19 patient until otherwise proven (ie, waiting for the result of SARS-CoV-2 test before doing other diagnostic or therapeutic procedures); however, 96.2% did not reduce the use of steroids to manage irAEs during the pandemic. No major impact of COVID-19 on physicians' attitudes towards the use of ICIs to manage specific clinical situations in different cancer types (ie, lung, breast, melanoma, urothelial) was observed.Conclusions: These results highlight the uncertainty of physicians dealing with ICIs in cancer patients during COVID-19 outbreak, supporting the need of dedicated studies on this regard.Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors.
Background: Cancer patients (pts) are at increased risk of severe COVID-19 infection and death. Older pts, men and those with haematological malignancies and receiving anti-tumour therapy within 14 days appear to be at highest risk for poor outcomes. In general populations, severe COVID-19 infection has been associated with neutrophilia, raised lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Cancer and its treatment affect many haematological and biochemical parameters. We examined whether COVID-19 infection affected these compared to pts' baseline parameters by longitudinal tracking. We also investigated whether changes were associated with poor outcome.Methods: Consecutive pts with solid or haematological malignancies presenting with index symptoms and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 at a tertiary oncology centre were identified following institutional board approval. Clinical and laboratory data were extracted from the pt record. Paired T-tests were used for longitudinal sampling and ANOVA/Chi squared for outcomes.Results: 52 pts tested positive (27 male, 25 female; median age 63). 80.5% had solid cancers, and 19.5% haematological. 31/52 pts were lymphopenic prior to infection. Comparing mean pre-infection counts (6 months-14 days¼PRE) with mean counts from the 5 days following positive test (DURING) lymphocyte counts significantly decreased during infection (p<0.0001). Platelets were significantly reduced DURING vs. PRE COVID-19 (p¼0.0028). 17/52 pts developed transient (median 2 days) neutropenia (<2x10 9 /L) DURING infection (6 pts <1x10 9 /L, 2 pts <0.5x10 9 /L), 8/17 attributed to cancer/cancer therapy, the rest had no underlying cause. 8/17 pts received growth factor support. Reduced lymphocytes/neutrophils/platelets at diagnosis were not associated with oxygen requirement (O 2 ) or death. Different CRP trajectories were observed when comparing pts grouped by discharge/ O 2 /death. Higher CRP and LDH at diagnosis were associated with admission (p¼0.02 CRP/0.2 LDH), O 2 (p¼0.0002 CRP/p<0.01 LDH) and death (p¼0.069 CRP/p¼0.04 LDH). Updated analysis will be presented.Conclusions: Infection with SARS-CoV-2 commonly affects haematological parameters in cancer pts. High CRP and LDH are associated with poor outcomes.
Audiovisual learning media is one of the teaching media used by teachers to make learning easier to understand. This research aims to see students' perceptions of the application of audiovisual learning media in mathematics learning subjects. This research is descriptive qualitative where this research will analyze the opinions of 28 students who were sampled. In this study, questionnaires were used to collect data on students' perceptions. Examining the data descriptive method was used. Based on the results of the study, it is known that students' perceptions of the application of audiovisual learning media make it easier for students to understand mathematics learning concepts are at a good level where 64.3% of students agree that the application of audiovisual learning media makes it easier for students to understand mathematics concepts. In addition, 78.6% of students also stated that the use of audiovisual learning media can make learning more interesting, and also 71.4% of students stated that the use of audiovisual learning media can provide a clearer picture of mathematics learning material. Therefore, the existence of audiovisual learning media is very helpful for a teacher during the teaching and learning process so that learning becomes fun.
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