COVID-19

Dr. Labaki and Dr. Trinh discuss their research on the recovery of cancer screening tests, its link with potential racial disparities from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how the community can continue to emphasize the importance of cancer screening while working to close these disparities in cancer care.

COVID-19 vaccination has been shown to induce high rates of seroconversion in patients with cancer, although those with hematologic malignancies have demonstrated lower immunogenicity and those who previously received immunosuppressive therapies appear to be less responsive.

One year ago, few objective observers would have suggested that the percentage of individuals who are currently fully vaccinated is less than 30%, despite the well-documented real-world success data for the vaccines in preventing serious illness, hospitalizations, and death from COVID-19 infection.

After a dramatic decrease during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial increase in cancer screening procedures during more recent time periods has been reported.

Chris Labaki, MD, discusses racial disparities with regard to mammography screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, discusses findings from a study examining the temporal changes in cancer tests and diagnoses in a large healthcare system in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The COVID-19 pandemic had a relatively limited effect on immuno-oncology research, according to results from the Association of Community Cancer Centers fourth annual analysis of the IO landscape.

Chevon M. Rariy, MD, discusses how the implementation of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the need for increased access to care for patients with cancer, as well as the potential benefits in-home infusions could offer to patients receiving chemotherapy.

More than 50 health care professional organizations, including the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the Society for Gynecologic Oncology, and the American Medical Association issued a joint statement Monday calling for all health care employers to require COVID-19 vaccinations for all their employees.

Suboptimal antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination have been reported in patients with multiple myeloma, leaving them at a greater risk for developing severe COVID-19.

Patients with a urological cancer who were also infected with COVID-19 and undergoing elective surgery for their disease, were found to have a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing respiratory complications and mortality than those without the virus.

The provision of urologic care underwent a significant decline during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic across all demographic groups and practice settings in the United States, regardless of the timing of stay-at-home order mandates.

Dr. Rariy, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Greenman discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant delay in cancer diagnoses, impacted the training of oncologists, and revolutionized telehealth.

Balazs Halmos, MD, MS, discusses a study examining the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in patients with cancer and identified important areas for future research.

Renold Capocasale and Grant Morgan, PhD, PMP, both of FlowMetric Life Sciences, Inc., discuss the vaccination immune response monitoring platform VaxEffect and its clinical application, as well as potential next steps for immune response tests with other vaccines aside from COVID-19.

A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rapid uptake of telemedicine and virtual health care for patients with cancer.

Patients with hematologic malignancies, which include cancers that affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes, have demonstrated a higher susceptibility to COVID-19 potentially because of inherent and cancer therapy–related immunosuppression.

The overall picture related to COVID-19 in the Unites States is encouraging, and we might suspect that the American public would be relatively united with favorable views of efforts of public health officials and organizations at the national, state, and local levels to successfully control this terrible event and return us to our prepandemic state.

The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for intravenous tocilizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients who have been hospitalized, are receiving systemic corticosteroids, and require supplemental oxygen, noninvasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Balazs Halmos, MD, discusses the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines in patients with cancer.

Dr. Halmos discusses the data from a study examining seroconversion rates following COVID-19 vaccination among patients with cancer and underscores the need for novel vaccination or passive immunization strategies for immunosuppressed cohorts.

Was it natural zoonotic spillover that catapulted SARS-CoV-2 from an emerging virus into a pandemic pathogen or was it something much more sinister? Is it at all possible that a lab leak in Wuhan, China, was the spark that lit the fuse?

Individuals with cancer or who have a history of cancer should qualify for inclusion on COVID-19 vaccine trials, unless there is a safety justification for exclusion.

Dr. Masten reflects on the main challenges that arose during the COVID-19 lockdown with regard to surgery in patients with breast cancer, the steps that were taken as the lockdown started to lift, and the changes that have been made with regard to managing patients around the time of surgery and in the operating room.

Rates of clinical trial initiation, novel drug development, and collaborative research and development deals were oncology.

Although the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is unprecedented in speed and scope, the process of postapproval surveillance has been shown to be robust and should serve as a source of reassurance to the public regarding the effectiveness of the initial and follow-up review process.

James H. Doroshow, MD, discusses strategies that were implemented to increase patient accrual to clinical trials during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jose Maria Mazarico Gallego, MD, discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care in Spain.

Ivan Marazzi, PhD, discusses the goals for examining topotecan as a treatment for patients with COVID-19 and cancer in India and Brazil.

The COVID-19 pandemic has inspired a new mantra for wellness in the oncology community and beyond.