Treatment Guidance for Patients With Lung Cancer During the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic

The global coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to escalate at a rapid pace inundating medical facilities and creating substantial challenges globally. The risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with cancer seems to be higher, especially as they are more likely to present with an immunocompromised condition, either from cancer itself or from the treatments they receive. A major consideration in the delivery of cancer care during the pandemic is to balance the risk of patient exposure and infection with the need to provide effective cancer treatment. Many aspects of the SARS-CoV-2 infection currently remain poorly characterized and even less is known about the course of infection in the context of a patient with cancer. As SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious, the risk of infection directly affects the cancer patient being treated, other cancer patients in close proximity, and health care providers. Infection at any level for patients or providers can cause considerable disruption to even the most effective treatment plans. Lung cancer patients, especially those with reduced lung function and cardiopulmonary comorbidities are more likely to have increased risk and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 as one of its common manifestations is as an acute respiratory illness. The purpose of this manuscript is to present a practical multidisciplinary and international overview to assist in treatment for lung cancer patients during this pandemic, with the caveat that evidence is lacking in many areas. It is expected that firmer recommendations can be developed as more evidence becomes available

Quality Measures for Multidisciplinary Tumor Boards and Their Role in Improving Cancer Care

While multidisciplinary tumor boards (MTBs) are widely used in managing patients with cancer, their impact on patient care and outcome is not routinely measured in different settings. The authors conducted a literature review in Medline, Google Scholar, Embase, and Web of Science using the following keywords: cancer, multidisciplinary, tumor board, quality performance indicator, lung cancer, and lymphoma. Standards from various accreditation and professional organizations were reviewed to compile relevant standards for MTB. A list of quality performance indicators that can be used to improve MTBs’ performance and impact was compiled. Specific examples for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and lung cancer MTBs were presented. Guidance was provided to help MTB team members select implement the appropriate quality measures. The functions and impact of MTBs should be monitored and evaluated by a set of measures that help guide MTBs to improve their performance and provide better care to their patients

Transarterial therapy: An evolving treatment modality of hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in men, the seventh most common in women, and the third most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. Only 30-40% of liver cancer patients present early enough to undergo curative treatments such as surgery or liver transplantation. Local treatment with radiofrequency ablation or ethanol injection is often reserved for non-surgical candidates with early stages of disease. Transarterial embolization has become a widely accepted treatment for asymptomatic patients with unresectable lesions. This review discusses in details the three major forms of transarterial therapies: Bland embolization, chemoembolization, and radioembolization

The Process of NCCN Guidelines™ Adaptation to the Middle East and North Africa Region

The NCCN developed clinical practice guidelines for oncology that set the standard of cancer care in the United States. Because of wide acceptance of, need for, and interest in standardized treatment practices across the world, NCCN launched initiatives to help international groups adapt these guidelines. This article describes the initiative in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. A group of oncology experts and key opinion leaders were assembled into 7 specific committees to develop treatment guidelines for breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, lymphoma, and palliative care. The committees reviewed the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) to identify any modifications required for them to be more applicable to the MENA region based on available evidence and regional experience. These modifications were discussed with NCCN experts and summarized for each specific area. The development of these guidelines generated a strong interest in the region to develop more evidence-based practice and create further networking and collaboration

An Atypical Initial Presentation of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia with Central Nervous System and Lymph Node Blast Crises

We describe the case of a young man with therapy-naive chronic myeloid leukemia who did not initially have any peripheral blood or bone marrow excess blasts but presented with extramedullary myeloid blast crises involving the central nervous system and multiple lymph nodes. Conventional cytogenetic tests were positive for t(9;22)(q34:q11) as well as for trisomy 8, 14 and 21 and del(16q). The patient’s peripheral blood and bone marrow were positive for the BCR-ABL oncogene when analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction. He achieved good clinical, radiological, cytogenetic and molecular response to acute myeloid leukemia induction chemotherapy combined with 16 doses of triple intrathecal chemotherapy and oral dasatinib (second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor) treatment. Due to his poor general condition, he was treated with 24 Gy of whole-brain radiation therapy, as allogeneic stem cell transplantation was not feasible. Although extramedullary CNS blast crises are usually associated with a very poor outcome, our patient remains in complete cytogenetic and molecular remission, on single-agent dasatinib, 4 years after the diagnosis with no current evidence of active extramedullary disease. This suggests that dasatinib has a role in controlling not only chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia, but also its CNS blast crisis