The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) recently unveiled a draft report on "preventing work-related psychosocial risks that can lead to burnout in oncologists." Targeted measures mentioned in the report include adequate staffing levels, worker control over workload, flexible scheduling, limits on overtime, and enhanced job security.
Click here to read the draft report.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has produced a new health workforce crisis plan, stressing "the urgent need for dedicated legislation, strategies, and resources to safeguard the sustainability of the oncology workforce." Proposed measures to alleviate burnout, a leading work-related psychosocial risk, includes adequate staffing levels, greater control over workload, flexible hours, reduced overtime, sufficient leave entitlement, enhanced career development, job security, training opportunities, and long-term workforce retention strategies.
Click here to read the full workforce crisis plan.
Results from 2 studies presented at the recent ESMO Congress 2024 in Lugano, Switzerland, indicate that there is "no increase in recurrence or new breast cancers in women who breastfeed after being treated for breast cancer." These findings provide the first evidence on breastfeeding in patients with a BRCA mutation. Results from one of the studies dhows that of the 518 women who paused breast cancer treatment to have a baby, "317 had at least one live birth..and 62% breastfed." The rate of breast cancer recurrence after 2 years was 3.6% in women who breastfed vs. 3.1% in those that did not.
To learn more about these studies, click here.
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A recent press release from the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) announces the release of the ESMO Living Guidelines, "a new tool designed to make [guidelines] easier to use in oncologists' routine clinical practice and support optimal decision-making in a rapidly evolving medical field." The guidelines provide an overview of patient management, including decision-making algorithms and key recommendations; they are to be considered a supplement to the ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines, which remain the key "reference source for the optimal management of each tumour type and disease setting."
To read more about these guidelines, click here.
Results from a recently completed population-based cohort study at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden determined that "individuals with autism spectrum disorders, when present with comorbid intellectual disability and/or birth defects, were at a higher risk of cancer in early life." With a focus on autism spectrum patients diagnosed with cancer before age 30, the study concluded that "autism spectrum disorders alone...without comorbid intellectual disability or birth defects...was not associated with an increased risk of any cancer."
To read more about this study, click here.
Study mentioned: Liu Q, Yin W, Meijjsen JJ, et al. Cancer risk in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Annals of Oncology; Published online 13 April 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2022.04.006
A recently published letter to the editor in Annals of Oncology, authored by Dr. Vincenzo Di Noia from the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute in Rome, Italy, "described the serological response to the third dose of the BNT162b2 mENA COVID-19 vaccine in a large cohort of patients with cancer." 407 patients received a third dose of BN1162b3 between September - November 2021. 366 (89.9%) of patients were on active anticancer treatment 28 days before BNT162b2 was administered. Median age of patients was 67, with breast (28.5%) and lung (19.9%) identified as the most common cancer types. 402 (98.8%) of patients studied "had a positive serological status after the third vaccine dose."
To read more about this study, click here.
Study mentioned: Di Noia V, Pimpinelli F, Renna D, et al. Potentiation of humoral response to BNT162b2 vaccine after the third dose in patients with solid cancer. Annals of Oncology; Published online 21 February 2022. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2022.02.006
According to criteria from the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM), malnutrition and risk of developing nosocomial infection is at high prevalence upon hospital admission for cancer patients. A small observational study of 107 patients (average age of 66 years old) conducted at General University Hospital of Valencia Oncology Department, indicated that 70% had an advanced stage of cancer diagnosis, presenting with severe (44.9%) and moderate (17.8%) malnutrition on admission. Study author Dr. Nunez Abad and his investigative team thus advise that "an adequate nutritional evaluation is essential for timely implementation of nutritional support, to avoid malnutrition, sarcopenia and to decrease NI."
To read more about this study, click here.
A recently published study conducted on 1016 cancer patients in a tertiary care hospital in Vienna between March 21, 2020 - May 4, 2020 indicates a "low rate of detectable SARS-CoV-2 infections...after implementation of institutional and population-wide safety measures." As countries worldwide can attest to, COVID-19 mortality is highest among the elderly. 88% of the 1016 cancer patients tested were managed in an outpatient setting; 53 patients (5.2%) self-reported symptoms attributable to COVID-19, however only 4 patients (0.4%) were officially diagnosed with coronavirus. While the study team acknowledges that their research was conducted in a controlled setting, they are adamant that "implementation of strict safety policies including routine SARS-CoV-2 testing in cancer patients in the cancer centres is advisable to present uncontrolled viral spread."
To read more about this study, click here.
Study mentioned: Berghoff AS, Gansterer M, Bathke AC, et al. SARS-CoV-2 testing in 1016 consecutive cancer patients treated at a tertiary care hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Clinical Oncology; Published on 14 August 2020. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.20.01442.
