SIOG (International Society of Geriatric Oncology) recommendations for anthracycline use in the elderly

A taskforce of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) has recently submitted recommendations on the use of anthracyclines in elderly patients. Despite the aging of the population and the high proportion of elderly individuals in the population of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the development of specialist expertise in the treatment of elderly patients with cancer is relatively recent. Treatment of the elderly is complex because they are a highly heterogeneous population, with large variations in health status, comorbidities and life expectancy. In addition, these patients are generally more susceptible than young patients to the cardiotoxic effects of anthracyclines. Strategies for assessing elderly patients with cancer, reducing the risk of congestive heart failure, and assessing the cardiotoxic effects of treatments are discussed. In addition, a summary of the SIOG recommendations is presented

From Idea to Consumer Gadget or Who Added ADHD to My Coffee

Kulutuskapula on kehitteillä oleva sovellus, jonka avulla kuluttaja voi tehdä eettisesti valistuneempia ostopäätöksiä. Sovellus toimii matkapuhelimissa ja se käyttää kulutustavaroiden viivakoodeja avaimina eettisen tietoon. Kulutuskapulan kehitys on ollut ongelmallista johtuen sen laajasta ongelmakentästä ja epäyhtenäisestä avustajajoukosta. Kehitys perustuu ajatukseen, ettei kannata tehdä huolellisia suunnitelmia, vaan keskittyä ainoastaan intuitiiviseen tekemiseen. Ajatus on toiminut Kulutuskapulan selkeästä visiosta johtuen hyvin. Kulutuskapulan ratkaisut pohjautuvat monilta osin selkeään informaatioarkkitehtuuriin, jonka avulla viivakoodit, tuotteet, yritykset ja eettiset arvot niputtuvat samaan monikäyttöiseen verkkoon. Verkon esittäminen sekä käyttäjille että Kulutuskapulan toimittajille on oma mielenkiintoinen käyttöliittymäongelmansa.Consumer Gadget is software under development, which enables consumers to make ethically better purchases. The software works on mobile phones and it uses product bar codes as keys to the ethical information. Consumer Gadget development has been troublesome because it happens on many fronts and people who are helping with the project have different backgrounds. Consumer Gadget development is based on an idea that no careful planning should be made and one should only concentrate on intuitive, practical development. This has worked well because of the clear vision Consumer Gadget has. Consumer Gadget design is based on clear information architecture, which creates a multi-purpose network out of bar codes, products, companies and ethical values. How to present the network to the users and Consumer Gadget editors is an interesting user interface problem

Epoetin Biosimilars in the Treatment of Chemotherapy-Induced Anemia: 10 Years' Experience Gained.

High-quality, safe, and effective biosimilars have the potential to increase access to biological therapies worldwide and to reduce cancer care costs. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) was the first regulatory authority to establish legislative procedures for the approval of biosimilars when they published their guidelines on similar biological medicinal products in 2005. Biosimilar epoetins were first approved in 2007, and a wealth of data has been collected over the last decade. Two biosimilar epoetins (under five commercial names) have been approved by the EMA so far. The availability of epoetin biosimilars generated discussion among the oncology community regarding prescribing these products, their efficacy, and their safety. These agents are approved only if they are shown in extensive analytical and clinical testing to have comparable quality, safety, and efficacy to the reference medicine, and real-world studies provide further data that biosimilar epoetins are an effective and well-tolerated option for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia in patients with cancer. Other countries have adopted similar regulatory pathways to those in Europe and have approved epoetin biosimilars. The now extensive European experience with biosimilar epoetins should reassure regulators from other territories

Opioid metabolism and drug-drug interaction in cancer

Concomitant use of multiple drugs in most patients with cancer may result in drug-drug interactions (DDIs), potentially causing serious adverse effects. These patients often experience unrelieved cancer-related pain (CRP) during and after cancer treatment, which can lead to a reduced quality of life. Opioids can be used as part of a multimodal pain management strategy when non-opioid analgesics are not providing adequate pain relief, not tolerated, or are contraindicated. However, due to their narrow therapeutic window, opioids are more susceptible to adverse events when a DDI occurs. Clinically relevant DDIs with opioids are usually pharmacokinetic, mainly occurring via metabolism by cytochrome P450 (CYP). This article aims to provide an overview of potential DDIs with opioids often used in the treatment of moderate-to-severe CRP and commonly used anticancer drugs such as chemotherapeutics, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), or biologics. A DDI-checker tool was used to contextualize the tool-informed DDI assessment outcomes with clinical implications and practice. The findings were compared to observations from a literature search conducted in Embase and PubMed to identify clinical evidence for these potential DDIs. The limited results mainly included case studies and retrospective reviews. Some potential DDIs on the DDI-checker were aligned with literature findings, while others were contradictory. In conclusion, while DDI-checkers are useful tools in identifying potential DDIs, it is necessary to incorporate literature verification and comprehensive clinical assessment of the patient before implementing tool-informed decisions in clinical practice

Biosimilar Pegfilgrastim: Improving Access and Optimising Practice to Supportive Care that Enables Cure

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a serious complication of chemotherapy, which can cause significant morbidity and mortality, result in dose delays and reductions and, ultimately, reduce cancer survival. Over the past decade, the availability of biosimilar filgrastim (short-acting granulocyte colony-stimulating factor [G-CSF]) has transformed patient access, with clear evidence of clinical benefit at preventing FN at reduced costs. In 2019, seven biosimilar pegfilgrastims (long-acting G-CSFs) were licensed, creating optimal market conditions and choice for prescribers. FN affects up to 117 per 1000 cancer patients, with mortality rates in the range of 2–21%. By reducing FN incidence and improving chemotherapy relative dose intensity (RDI), G-CSF has been associated with a 3.2% absolute survival benefit. Guidelines recommend primary prophylaxis and that filgrastim be administered for 10–14 days, while pegfilgrastim is administered once per cycle. When taken according to the guidelines, pegfilgrastim and filgrastim are equally effective. However, in routine clinical practice, filgrastim is often under-dosed (< 7 days) and has been shown to be inferior to pegfilgrastim at reducing FN incidence, hospitalisations and maintaining RDI. Once-per-cycle administration with pegfilgrastim might also aid patient adherence. The introduction of biosimilar pegfilgrastim should instigate a rethink of neutropenia management. Biosimilar pegfilgrastim

Epidemiological and nonclinical studies investigating effects of iron in carcinogenesis-A critical review

The efficacy and tolerability of intravenous (i.v.) iron in managing cancer-related anemia and iron deficiency has been clinically evaluated and reviewed recently. However, long-term data in cancer patients are not available; yet, long-term i.v. iron treatment in hemodialysis patients is not associated with increased cancer risk. This review summarizes epidemiological and nonclinical data on the role of iron in carcinogenesis. In humans, epidemiological data suggest correlations between certain cancers and increased iron exposure or iron overload. Nonclinical models that investigated whether iron can enhance carcinogenesis provide only limited evidence relevant for cancer patients since they were typically based on high iron doses as well as injection routes and iron formulations which are not used in the clinical setting. Nevertheless, in the absence of long-term outcome data from prospectively defined trials in i.v. iron-treated cancer patients, iron supplementation should be limited to periods of concomitant anti-tumor treatment

A Practical Approach to Fatigue Management in Colorectal Cancer

Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Cancer-related fatigue is serious and complex, as well as one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients with colorectal cancer, with the potential to compromise quality of life, activities of daily living, and ultimately survival. There is a lack of consensus about the definition of cancer-related fatigue; however, definitions have been put forward by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Numerous cancer- and treatment-related factors can contribute to fatigue, including disease progression, comorbidities, medical complications such as anemia, side effects of other medications, and a number of physical and psychologic factors. This underlines the importance of tackling factors that may contribute to fatigue before reducing the dose of treatment. NCCN guidelines and the EAPC have proposed approaches to managing fatigue in cancer patients; however, relatively few therapeutic agents have been demonstrated to reduce fatigue in randomized controlled trials. It is recognized that physical activity produces many beneficial physiologic modifications to markers of physical performance that can help to counteract various causes of fatigue. In appropriately managed and monitored patients with colorectal cancer, emerging evidence indicates that exercise programs may have a favorable influence on cancer-related fatigue, quality of life, and clinical outcomes, and therefore may help patients tolerate chemotherapy. This review assesses fatigue in patients with colorectal cancer and proposes updates to a treatment algorithm that may help clinicians manage this common problem