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What does it mean to live with breast cancer, anorexia, chronic pain, dementia, or COVID-19? How does it feel to care for aging parents or to live with people with Alzheimer's? Contemporary illness memoirs foreground these experiences, offering readers insider accounts of lives marked by infirmity. This special issue of Prose Studies presents six critical readings of contemporary experiences of illness, highlighting both the aesthetic and personal experience of reading illness memoirs. These articles address pressing questions regarding how we understand illness and disability today, what popular perspectives get wrong about lived experiences of illness, as well as how reading illness memoirs might help correct widespread or less-thoughtful social and cultural perceptions of the experience of illness.
ABSTRACT
Updated analysis confirms sustained poor prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with lymphoma in Latin America: A cohort of 160 patients from GELL. Introduction: Ongoing SARS-COV-2 pandemic has impacted the management of cancer patients worldwide. Several reports have demonstrated inferior outcomes of patients with hematological malignancies, including higher rates of intensive care unit admission, need for mechanical ventilation and death. The impact of COVID-19 is profound in resource-restricted countries, including Latin America. Most cohorts reported have not included patients from Latin America, and there is paucity of data of the outcome of cancer patients with COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries. Grupo de Estudio De Linfoproliferativos En Latino-America (GELL )is a collaborative network of hematological centers in 13 countries in Latin America. We report updated outcomes of lymphoma patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Latin America. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study including patients with a diagnosis of lymphoma and COVID-19 infection. Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma were excluded from the analysis We defined active disease as follow: (1) patients with detectable disease either prior to initiating therapy or upon relapse, and/or (2) patients undergoing active cancer treatment. The primary outcome was overall survival at 100 days. Survival curves were estimated using the Kaplan Meier method. Uni and multivariable analysis were carried out with Cox model. Results: A total of 160 patients were available for analysis. Median age was 60 years old. Hypertension was the most common comorbidity (33%). Most patients had aggressive lymphomas (62%), including 43% of patients with diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Follicular lymphomas were observed in 13% of patients and Hodgkin lymphoma in 12.5% of patients. With a median follow-up of 37 days, the 100-day OS was 64% (95CI 56-74%, fig. 1). In univariate analysis, age (HR 1.03, p=0.0025), hypertension (HR 2.01, p=0.017), >1 number of prior lines (HR 2.78, p=0.011), patients currently on treatment (HR 1.83, p=0.043), ferritin >2000 ng/mL (HR 4.74 p=0.00047) were associated with inferior OS. In multivariate analysis, age (HR 1.03, p=0.0026) and patients currently on treatment (HR 1.82, p=0.04) had inferior OS. There was a trend towards inferior outcomes in patients receiving monoclonal antibodies in univariate analysis (HR 1.82, p=0.081) but not in multivariable analysis (HR=1.29, p=0.48). Use of steroids was not statistically related to mortality (HR 1.79, p=0.074). Finally, contrary to other cohorts, no improvement in OS was observed in patients diagnosed later on the pandemic (fig. 2). Conclusion: In this large cohort of Latin American patients with lymphoma malignancies, our updated analysis showed a maintained dismal prognosis with COVID-19 infection. With a median follow up of 37 days, the 100-day OS was 64%. Older age and ongoing active cancer treatment were significantly associated with mortality. The use of monoclonal antibodies and systemic corticosteroids were not statistically associated to poor survival. Current efforts are focused on improving immunization in the Latin American population. There is an unmet need for improving survival in patients with hematologic malignancies and COVID-19 infection. [Formula presented] Disclosures: Perini: Janssen: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau;Takeda: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau;Astra Zeneca: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau;MSD: Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Otero: ASTRA ZENECA: Current Employment. Abello: Dr Reddy's: Research Funding;Amgen: Honoraria;Janssen: Honoraria. Castillo: Abbvie: Consultancy, Research Funding;BeiGene: Consultancy, Research Funding;Pharmacyclics: Consultancy, Research Funding;Janssen: Consultancy;Roche: Consultancy;TG Therapeutics: Research Funding.
ABSTRACT
Although the participation of women in the different stages of society has increased, there are still sectors where the presence of women is meager, and the visibility of their contributions to society still much lower. The confinement due to the Covid19 pandemic has only made this reality even more visible. Some studies indicate that by increasing empowering women and girls in settings where they are a minority, economic and social benefits are also obtained. The W-STEM project aims to increase women's participation in STEM disciplines. The paper presents preliminary results of a diagnosis of different STEM programs at one university in Colombia. Results show that seven STEM programs have low female enrolment. Therefore, the paper presents various activities developed to motivate young women to enroll in STEM programs. The activities were open to all interested students, showing that 47% of women participated in the activities. Thus, these processes empower women by providing information and inclusion in spaces to acquire new knowledge and skills. © 2021 IEEE.