Special Issue "Medical Complications and Supportive Care in Patients with Cancer"

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Survivorship and Quality of Life".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 3970

Special Issue Editor

Department of Internal Medicine, Supportive and Palliative Care Unit in Cancer, Hospital Clinic, Villarroel 170, 08036-Barcelona, Spain
Interests: cancer; oncological emergencies; supportive care; autoimmune diseases; infectious diseases; critical care; vasculitis; immunotherapy; immune-related adverse events
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The prevalence of cancer is increasing due to the aging population, early diagnosis and the therapeutic novelties that have appeared in recent years (targeted therapies or different modalities of immunotherapy, among others) and have led to improvements in the survival of patients with oncological diseases. However, this has also caused an increase in the complexity in the management of these patients, who present classic complications of cancer (oncological emergencies, thromboembolic disease or infectious diseases) but also pose new challenges for the professionals who provide them with medical care (new treatment toxicities such as immune-related adverse events, the adverse effects of CAR-T cell therapies or the need for intensive care). In addition, other challenges arise in parallel: older patients may be candidates for oncologic treatment (oncogeriatrics), and the palliative needs of patients are becoming more complex and require specialized attention.

For all these reasons, we believe that this Special Issue will be of great interest to professionals who work with cancer patients and strive to provide the best care for those experiencing medical complications of cancer and receiving supportive or palliative care. Papers related to these areas are welcome to be submitted to this Special Issue, whether they are about oncological emergencies, infectious diseases in cancer patients, treatment toxicities, immune-related adverse events, supportive care, palliative care or thromboembolic disease, among others.

Dr. Javier Marco-Hernández
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cancer
  • oncological emergencies
  • immune-related adverse events
  • immunotherapy
  • supportive care
  • palliative care
  • infectious diseases
  • thromboembolic disease
  • treatment toxicities
  • CAR-T cell therapy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 456 KiB  
Article
Bacteremia in Patients with Solid Organ Cancer: Insights into Epidemiology and Antibiotic Consumption
Cancers 2023, 15(23), 5561; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15235561 - 24 Nov 2023
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Abstract
Epidemiology and risk factors associated to bacterial resistance in solid organ cancer (SOC) patients has been barely described. This retrospective monocentric study analyzed clinical variables in SOC patients who developed bacteremia between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2022. We described rates of [...] Read more.
Epidemiology and risk factors associated to bacterial resistance in solid organ cancer (SOC) patients has been barely described. This retrospective monocentric study analyzed clinical variables in SOC patients who developed bacteremia between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2022. We described rates of bacterial resistance in Gram negative bacteria (80.6%): E. coli-ESBL, K. pneumoniae-ESBL, Carbapenem-Resistant K. pneumoniae and Meropenem-Resistant P. aeruginosa, as well as antibiotic consumption, and compared these rates between the medical and oncology wards. In total, we included 314 bacteremias from 253 patients. SOC patients are frequently prescribed antibiotics (40.8%), mainly fluoroquinolones. Nosocomial bacteremia accounted for 18.2% of the cases and only 14.3% of patients were neutropenic. Hepatobiliary tract was the most frequent tumor (31.5%) and source of bacteremia (38.5%). Resistant bacteria showed a decreased rate of resistance during the years studied in the oncology ward. Both K-ESBL and K-CBP resistance rates decreased (from 45.8% to 20.0%, and from 29.2% to 20.0%, respectively), as well as MRPA, which varied from a resistance rate of 28% to 16.7%. The presence of a urinary catheter (p < 0.001) and previous antibiotic prescription (p = 0.002) were risk factors for bacterial resistance. Identifying either of these risk factors could help in guiding antibiotic prescription for SOC patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medical Complications and Supportive Care in Patients with Cancer)
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12 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
Stigma of Palliative Care among Patients with Advanced Cancer and Their Caregivers on Early Palliative Care
Cancers 2023, 15(14), 3656; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15143656 - 18 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1159
Abstract
The early referral to palliative care (PC) represents a successful value-based model with proven benefits regarding the quality of life and clinical outcomes for advanced cancer patients and their caregivers. Yet, its provision remains typically confined to the last weeks of life as [...] Read more.
The early referral to palliative care (PC) represents a successful value-based model with proven benefits regarding the quality of life and clinical outcomes for advanced cancer patients and their caregivers. Yet, its provision remains typically confined to the last weeks of life as per the historical, late PC model. The stigma according to which PC represents end-of-life care has been identified as the root of the problem. To explore the presence and effects of the stigma in a clinical context, we surveyed 78 patients and 110 caregivers (mean age: 71.7 and 60.7, respectively) on early PC to study what their perception of PC was before their direct experience. The responses were analyzed through a qualitative descriptive approach. The participants explicitly mentioned a lack of knowledge about PC (53% of the sample), which they identified also among physicians and the population (13%); an identification of PC with the late PC model (53%); and a detrimental reaction to the proposal of an early PC referral (83%). However, the participants explicitly mentioned that a direct experience of early PC allowed for an acquired awareness of early PC meaning and benefits (52%), as well as a comprehension of its differences with late PC (34%); the regret for the delayed referral (8%); the perception of the word “palliative” as a barrier (21%); and the belief that early PC should be part of the cancer routine practice (25%). A comprehensive multi-level intervention is necessary for a widespread understanding of the essence of anticipated PC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medical Complications and Supportive Care in Patients with Cancer)
10 pages, 1346 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Local Recurrence Risk in Ductal Carcinoma In Situ and External Validation of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Nomogram
Cancers 2023, 15(8), 2392; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15082392 - 21 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1430
Abstract
Background: Adjuvant radiotherapy and hormonotherapy after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) have been shown to reduce the risk of local recurrence. To predict the risk of ipsilateral breast tumor relapse (IBTR) after BCS, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center [...] Read more.
Background: Adjuvant radiotherapy and hormonotherapy after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) have been shown to reduce the risk of local recurrence. To predict the risk of ipsilateral breast tumor relapse (IBTR) after BCS, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) developed a nomogram to analyze local recurrence (LR) risk in our cohort and to assess its external validation. Methods: A historical cohort study using data from 296 patients treated for DCIS at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona was carried out. Patients who had had a mastectomy were excluded from the analysis. Results: The mean age was 58 years (42–75), and the median follow-up time was 10.64 years. The overall local relapse rate was 13.04% (27 patients) during the study period. Actuarial 5- and 10-year IBTR rates were 5.8 and 12.9%, respectively. The external validation of the MSKCC nomogram was performed using a multivariate logistic regression analysis on a total of 207 patients, which did not reach statistical significance in the studied population for predicting LR (p = 0.10). The expression of estrogen receptors was significantly associated with a decreased risk of LR (OR: 0.25; p = 0.004). Conclusions: In our series, the LR rate was 13.4%, which was in accordance with the published series. The MSKCC nomogram did not accurately predict the IBTR in this Spanish cohort of patients treated for DCIS (p = 0.10). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medical Complications and Supportive Care in Patients with Cancer)
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