Cancer investigation
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Cancer investigation · Feb 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialThe Effectiveness of Shared Compared to Informed Decision Making for Prostate Cancer Screening in a High-Risk African American Population: A Randomized Control Trial.
Prostate cancer incidence and mortality in the United States in African Americans (AA) are higher than in Caucasians. Eastern Cuyahoga County in Ohio is majority AA and is considered an underserved population particularly vulnerable to healthcare disparities. There is a paucity of data about shared decision making among high-risk AA men with regard to prostate cancer screening. This study aims to examine shared versus informed decision making (SDM versus IDM) in a randomized, control trial among a large, high-risk AA population. ⋯ Our education-based study showed no significant difference between SDM and IDM with regard to decisional conflict about prostate cancer screening. The study also demonstrated significant improvement in knowledge about prostate cancer screening in a high-risk AA population in both groups. Our results should be interpreted with caution due to several limitations; however, the study can serve as a benchmark for future studies in this very important topic.
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Cancer investigation · Feb 2021
ReviewLoose Regulatory Standards Portend a New Era of Imprecision Oncology.
Precision oncology has revolutionized the therapeutic landscape of oncology and is a goal for cancer drug development. However, lenient drug approvals by the United States Food and Drug Administration under the auspices of precision oncology are setting up this therapeutic approach to fail. In this commentary, I review two recent FDA drug approvals (pembrolizumab for tumor mutation burden-high solid tumors and olaparib for castration-resistant prostate cancer with deleterious homologous recombination repair mutations) where the FDA indication is broader than the studied population. I explain how these broad approvals stray from principles of precision oncology and can cause harm to patients.
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Cancer investigation · Jan 2021
Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak through Telemedicine Implementation on Data Reporting During Oncology Clinical Trials.
Coronavirus disease outbreak has affected all aspect of clinical care including cancer clinical trials. To minimize exposure of frail cancer patients, an implementation of telemedicine was retained. ⋯ Poor data reporting induced mainly a bias on qualitative and descriptive primary endpoints than those assessing efficacy (80% vs 20%; p < 0.001). The integration of telemedicine and E-technologies in the medical practices and clinical trials must be designed and validated.
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Cancer investigation · Jan 2021
Review Case ReportsCourse of Sars-CoV2 Infection in Patients with Cancer Treated with anti-PD-1: A Case Presentation and Review of the Literature.
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemia is a major health worldwide concern. Patients with cancer might have a worse outcome, because of the immunosuppression determined by the tumor itself and anti-cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. ⋯ A critical review of literature was performed. Limited data available in literature support the possibility to continue the immunotherapy in patients with cancer under control.