ESMO urges EU policymakers to protect the wellbeing of the oncology workforce

 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. 

Majority of patients with cancer are willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19

 A recently conducted survey among ambulatory patients at four French cancer centres found that most patients undergoing treatment for their cancer wish to be vaccinated against COVID-19.  Study authors further confirmed that "patients with cancer have a variable but confirmed higher risk of severe COVID-19.  They advocate that patients with cancer should be a target population for vaccination, despite [being] excluded from the first trials."  Patients responding to the survey also believed that oncologists are qualified to provide guidance and advise regarding COVID-19 vaccination. 

To read more about this survey, click here. 

Study mentioned: 

Barrière J, Gal J, Hoch B, et al. Acceptance of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination among French patients with cancer: a cross-sectional survey. Annals of Oncology; Published online 29 January 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2021.01.066

Cancer survivors more prone to obesity

A new study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York indicates that colorectal and breast cancer survivors in particular are more prone to obesity compared to the general population. This study, conducted on 539,000 American adults between 1997-2014, indicates that obesity trends rose from 21%-29% over this time-frame for individuals with no history of cancer, while cancer survivors indicated a 22%-32% rate of obesity.  According to principal investigator Heather Greenlee, the study results suggest that "obesity is a growing public health burden for cancer survivors, which requires targeted interventions including weight management efforts to stave off the increasing obesity..."

To read more on this study, click here

World Health Organization's European code against cancer

On February 2, 2016 WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has issued a new edition of a code of actions that individuals can take to help prevent cancer. Supported by government policy and action, the code can help reduce cancer in the Region. Read more here.

Canadian Cancer Society welcomes announcement by the Minister of Health on mandatory reporting of drug shortages

“Cancer patients suffer when they can’t access the drugs they need. That’s why drug shortages have been a major priority for the Society, and why we’re pleased to see the Government move on this important issue,” said Gabriel Miller, Director of Public Issues. The Society looks forward to contributing to the details of the mandatory reporting plan, and urges the Minister of Health to take the next steps in proactively managing and anticipating shortages. Read more here.

National poll shows cancer strategy a priority for Canadians

Canadians overwhelmingly support a national strategy to reduce the burden of cancer, saying the plan should prioritize providing timely access to cancer treatments, timely and effective access to cancer screening and spreading the use of effective prevention techniques. Read more here.

IMAGINE Project focuses on patient-first health-care culture

The Alberta health-care system includes extraordinary talent and forward-thinking initiatives. But it is also faced with challenges to patient safety, frequent patient dissatisfaction, and a culture that can struggle with always putting the patient first. That is the picture of the health-care system that emerged during a nearly five-hour forum attended by almost 400 people, streamed live and hosted by the O’Brien Institute for Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine. The forum marked the launch of the IMAGINE Project, a grassroots, citizen-led initiative that aims to refocus the health-care system on the patient. Read more here.

More than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use smokeless tobacco

The first-ever report on the global use and public health impact of smokeless tobacco finds that more than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use these harmful products. The report, Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health: A Global Perspective, was released by the CDC and the National Cancer Institute at the National Conference on Smoking or Health in Mumbai, India. Thirty-two leading experts from around the world contributed to the report. The serious health effects of smokeless tobacco have been documented. As the report explains, there is sufficient evidence to conclude that smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer in humans. Read more here.

Read the full report here.

The Partnership promotes greater integration of tobacco control and cancer control

During National Non-Smoking Week, January 18-25, Canadians are reminded of the dangers of tobacco use and encouraged to quit smoking. While there have been marked reductions in tobacco use in Canada over the past 40 years, smoking remains the number one cause of cancer and approximately 20 percent of Canadians continue to use tobacco on an occasional or regular basis. Read more here.

More than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use smokeless tobacco

The first-ever report on the global use and public health impact of smokeless tobacco finds that more than 300 million people in at least 70 countries use these harmful products. The report, Smokeless Tobacco and Public Health: A Global Perspective, is being released today by the CDC and the National Cancer Institute at the National Conference on Smoking or Health in Mumbai, India. Thirty-two leading experts from around the world contributed to the report. Read more and download the full report here.

Smoking still causes large proportion of cancer deaths in the United States

A new American Cancer Society study finds that despite significant drops in smoking rates, cigarettes continue to cause about three in ten cancer deaths in the United States. The study, appearing in the Annals of Epidemiology, concludes that efforts to reduce smoking prevalence as rapidly as possible should be a top priority for the U.S. public health efforts to prevent cancer deaths. Read more here.

American Cancer Society launches global cancer atlas to empower nations to reduce their cancer burden

With the number of global cancer cases expected to increase by more than 50 percent by 2030, researchers around the globe have collaborated to create a new tool for global leaders to determine what actions they must take to better control cancer. The American Cancer Society's newly published The Cancer Atlas, Second Edition has been released in partnership with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) within the World Health Organization, and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). The data featured in the book and on the website highlight the complex nature of the global cancer landscape, but also point to strategies that governments can use to reduce their cancer burden. Read more here.

Click here to view The Cancer Atlas, Second Edition.

New WHO guide to prevent and control cervical cancer

New guidance from World Health Organization (WHO) aims to help countries better prevent and control cervical cancer. The disease is one of the world’s deadliest – but most easily preventable – forms of cancer for women, responsible for more than 270 000 deaths annually, 85% of which occur in developing countries. The new "Comprehensive cervical cancer control: a guide to essential practice" is launched at the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne, Australia on 3 December 2014. Read more here.

IARC summer school in cancer epidemiology, 2015 - call for applications open

The aim of the IARC Summer School is to stimulate research in cancer epidemiology by improving scientific knowledge and developing skills among researchers worldwide. Special consideration is given to countries with limited resources for the control of chronic diseases, including cancer. By helping to develop local expertise in cancer epidemiology and by strengthening research institutions through international collaborations, IARC aims to enhance cancer prevention. Read more here.

Nonsmokers in automobiles are exposed to significant secondhand smoke

Nonsmokers sitting in an automobile with a smoker for one hour had markers of significantly increased levels of carcinogens and other toxins in their urine, indicating that secondhand smoke in motor vehicles poses a potentially major health risk according to a groundbreaking study led by UC San Francisco researchers. The nonsmoking passengers showed elevated levels of butadiene, acrylonitrile, benzene, methylating agents and ethylene oxide. Read more here.

Physician survey results on unnecessary tests

The ABIM Foundation commissioned PerryUndem Research/Communication to conduct a national survey of physicians. The purpose of the survey was to gauge physicians’ attitudes toward the problem of unnecessary tests and procedures in the health care system, views on the causes of the problem, and their perspectives on various solutions. The survey also measured exposure to the Choosing Wisely® campaign and compared self-reported behaviors between those with and without exposure to the campaign.

Read the full report, Unnecessary tests and procedures in the health care system: what physicians say about the problem, the causes, and the solutions: results from a national survey of physicians, here.

Connect to the Choosing Wisely website here.

Ottawa failing to take action on e-cigarettes

The evidence backing e-cigarettes as an effective cessation or harm-reduction device is mixed, and more rigorous study is needed to figure out how well the products work at helping people quit tobacco-based cigarettes, and whether inhaling vaporized nicotine causes any long-term health effects. At the same time, there is real – and legitimate – worry that e-cigarettes, available in dozens of candy and fruit flavours, could be a gateway for teens who will then graduate to the real thing. Despite these lingering questions, more tobacco-control experts are embracing the idea that e-cigarettes may have a crucial role to play in reducing smoking rates and want them to be available on a restricted basis in Canada, to keep them out of the hands of minors. Read more here.

Public health officers tackle hazy issue of e-cigarettes

The e-cigarette debate is particularly complicated. The battery-operated devices – which mimic the look and feel of conventional cigarettes without the tobacco, producing vapour instead of smoke – are hailed by some as the key to quitting smoking. But others, including the World Health Organization, have called for stricter regulation because of the child-friendly flavours and the addictive nicotine that many, but not all, contain. In an effort to make sense of the regulations, the e-cigarette issue is on the agenda for provincial and territorial health ministers, who are meeting in Banff, Alta., this week. Read more here.

Launch of BCNet website

The Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) Biobank and Cohort Building Network (BCNet) initiative arose from the realization that despite improvements in developed countries, population cohorts and biobanking facilities are either underdeveloped or non-existent in LMICs. In this context and in line with IARC’s mission to contribute to worldwide cancer research, BCNet was set up as an opportunity for LMICs to work together in a coordinated and effective manner and jointly address the many challenges in biobanking infrastructure, including ethical, legal, and social issues. Visit the website here.

Canada often takes years longer than U.S. to approve cancer drugs: study

Health authorities in Canada tend to take several months longer to approve new cancer drugs than those in the U.S., leaving Canadian patients waiting longer for the potentially life-extending medication, a new study suggests. Toronto-based cancer researchers Dr. Sunil Verma, from Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto, and PhD student Nardin Samuel looked at how long it took for 41 cancer drugs to be approved in Canada, and compared the approval times to those in the U.S. and the European Union. They found that on average, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugs six months earlier than for the European Union's European Medicines Agency, and 7.6 months earlier than Health Canada. Read more here.