ABSTRACT
Background: Among women, breast cancer (BC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and is ranked as the leading cause of cancer death. Given that aging is one of the strongest risk factors for the development of breast cancer, older adults (65+) are disproportionately affected. At the same time, more than half of older cancer patients are considered frail or pre-frail and are at increased risk of adverse outcomes including treatment intolerance, as well as morbidity, and mortality. Frailty is thus recognized as an important metric to guide decision-making in geriatric oncology. This study characterizes the use of frailty measurements in observational studies on older women with breast cancer. Material(s) and Method(s): MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were systematically queried to identify observational studies (cohort, casecontrol, cross-sectional) on older women with breast cancer which evaluate survival or mortality before or after treatment, published from 2017-2022. Studies were managed using Covidence software and assessed for inclusion with predefined criteria by independent reviewers. Data was extracted with respect to the characteristics of the studies. Frailty measurements were identified, the proportion of studies using frailty measurements was calculated, and the prevalence of frailty among BC patients was determined. Result(s): A total of 9823 studies were screened on title and after deduplication. Based on specified criteria, 217 full text studies were assessed for eligibility, 71 of which were excluded, mainly due to incorrect target population with respect to age, or incorrect outcome assessment. Overall, 146 studies were included. Preliminary results revealed that frailty status was not considered in all identified observational studies. Among studies that measured frailty, a relevant proportion of female BC patients were considered frail. Detailed results will be shown at the conference. Conclusion(s): Despite having significant prognostic importance, the use of frailty measurements is not a compulsory practice in observational studies on breast cancer in older women. Additionally, although multiple frailty screening tools have been developed, there is no gold standard measurement used to detect frailty. As a result of such heterogeneity in clinical practice, an established definition of frailty remains elusive. Efforts to create a unified definition and gold standard may improve targeted care and health outcomes for older breast cancer patients. No conflict of interest. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
ABSTRACT
In the wake of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), contact tracing has become a key element of strategies to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Given the rapid and intense spread of SARS-CoV-2, digital contact tracing has emerged as a potential complementary tool to support containment and mitigation efforts. Early modelling studies highlighted the potential of digital contact tracing to break transmission chains, and Google and Apple subsequently developed the Exposure Notification (EN) framework, making it available to the vast majority of smartphones. A growing number of governments have launched or announced EN-based contact tracing apps, but their effectiveness remains unknown. Here, we report early findings of the digital contact tracing app deployment in Switzerland. We demonstrate proof-of-principle that digital contact tracing reaches exposed contacts, who then test positive for SARS-CoV-2. This indicates that digital contact tracing is an effective complementary tool for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Continued technical improvement and international compatibility can further increase the efficacy, particularly also across country borders.