Ecancermedicalscience
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Ecancermedicalscience · Jan 2021
Clinical research mentorship programme (CRMP) for radiation oncology residents in Africa-building capacity through mentoring.
Research skills are mandatory for all oncology residency training programmes. Creating the environment to foster skills and passion can be a challenge in all settings, and a unique challenge in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Tremendous clinical workload places exceptional demand on clinician teachers, research infrastructure and access to research collaborators with diverse methodological skill sets can be limited. ⋯ A standard evaluation package is used (Vuple et al ((2021) 6 919-928)). In this paper, through a description of our collaboration, we will highlight how a distant mentorship programme was used to enhance clinical research mentorship skills for radiation oncology trainees in Africa. We hope the format we have chosen will continue to demonstrate effectiveness for our trainees, sustainability for our faculty and institutions and will serve as one mechanism to build radiation capacity for LMIC through collaboration, mentorship and research.
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Ecancermedicalscience · Jan 2021
Psycho-oncology service provisions for hospitalised cancer patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in an oncology centre in eastern India.
Addressing the mental health needs of cancer patients and their caregivers improves the quality of care the patient receives in any cancer care ecosystem. International practice currently encourages integrated care for physical and mental health in oncology. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the delivery of healthcare services across the world. The current research paper is on the psycho-oncology service provision for hospitalised cancer patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The provision of psycho-oncology services to cancer patients and their caregivers was important before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Watch a video which illustrates the psycho-oncology service provisions in an oncology centre in Eastern India during the COVID-19 pandemic here: https://ecancer.org/en/video/9707-psycho-oncology-service-provisions-for-hospitalised-cancer-patients-before-and-during-the-covid19-pandemic.
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Ecancermedicalscience · Jan 2021
The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric cancer care: lessons learnt from a major paediatric oncology department in Turkey.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted cancer care. An audit at a major Paediatric Oncology Department in Turkey was performed to determine its impact on paediatric cancer care. A comparison was made among the number of daily paediatric cancer patients, diagnostic and treatment procedures. ⋯ The presentation delay (median 31 days) remain unchanged during the 'COVID-19 period'. The findings suggest significant damage to paediatric cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appropriate obligatory actions by oncology societies and policymakers can minimise longer term negative impacts.
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Ecancermedicalscience · Jan 2020
RENATA study-Latin American prospective experience: clinical outcome of patients treated with palbociclib in hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer-real-world use.
In hormone receptor-positive, HER-2 negative (HR+/HER2-) advanced breast cancer (ABC) endocrine therapy (ET) plus cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) in first and second line improved progression-free survival (PFS), overall response rate (ORR) and clinical benefit rate (CB) without deterioration in quality of life compared with ET alone. In addition, recent data showed improvement in overall survival (OS) for premenopausal women in first line setting and for different subgroups of patients in second line. Since 2015, in Argentina, the combination of ET with CDK4/6i is a standard of care in HR+/HER2- ABC. ⋯ This is the first prospective evidence of real-world use of palbociclib in a Latin American population. We found similar outcomes to the PALOMA-2 and PALOMA-3 randomised trials and Real-World Data already published, with lower incidence of side effects and treatment discontinuation, but with higher incidence of febrile neutropenia.
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Ecancermedicalscience · Jan 2020
EditorialCOVID-19 and its ramifications for cancer patients in low-resource settings: Ghana as a case study.
The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a major challenge requiring urgent measures. Cancer care in LMICs, including Ghana, is faced with inadequate numbers of skilled healthcare professionals and essential material resources which negatively impacts the quality of healthcare and wellbeing of patients. ⋯ Some cultural beliefs regarding COVID-19 and its influence on the health and wellbeing of cancer patients have also been discussed. Measures by the government to lessen the burden on citizens and health workers are highlighted with possible recommendations for improvement in cancer care in Ghana and other LMICs during this pandemic.