ABSTRACT
Objectives: According to the National Cancer Institute, the integrative medicine (IM) approach to medical care combines standard medicine with complementary and alternative medicine practices that have proved safe and effective. Methods: We describe the clinical cases of four patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (DMPM), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, and breast cancer (BC) who received supportive treatment (ST) according to an IM approach after the failure of standard cancer treatments or the appearance of serious adverse events caused by antiblastic chemotherapy. The critical role of complementary drugs in reducing the side effects of cancer treatments and normalizing the white cell count is especially apparent in the case of the patient with metastatic BC, who experienced prolonged neutropenia. Results: The IM approach was well-tolerated and had no adverse side effects. It improved the quality of life (QoL) of all patients and in two cases extended overall survival. Conclusion: The extended clinical and instrumental response to IM of the patients with malignant mesothelioma and the improved health-related QoL and good tolerance of the ST demonstrated in all cases support the value of this approach in patients whose cancer therapies have failed but who show a good performance status. Our data require confirmation in a well-designed prospective clinical trial.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 disease is one of the biggest public health challenges in Italy and global healthcare facilities, including radiotherapy departments, faced an unprecedented emergency. Cancer patients are at higher risk of COVID-19 infection because of their immunosuppressive state caused by both tumor itself and anticancer therapy adopted. In this setting, the radiation therapy clinical decision-making process has been partly reconsidered; thus, to reduce treatment duration and minimize infection risk during a pandemic, hypofractionated regimens have been revised. Moreover, telemedicine shows its helpfulness in the radiotherapy field, and patients get the supportive care they need minimizing their access to hospitals. This review aims to point out the importance of hypofractionated RT and telemedicine in cancer patient management in the COVID-19 era.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Radiation Dose Hypofractionation , Radiation Oncology/methods , Radiotherapy/methods , Telemedicine/methods , Bone Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Bone Neoplasms/secondary , Brachytherapy/methods , Brain Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Brain Neoplasms/secondary , Breast Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Clinical Decision-Making , Delivery of Health Care , Female , Humans , Male , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Prostatic Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Radiosurgery/methods , Radiotherapy, Conformal/methods , Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated/methods , SARS-CoV-2 , Time-to-TreatmentSubject(s)
Coronavirus Infections , Neoplasms , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , China/epidemiology , Humans , Neoplasms/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
Hematology , Neoplasms , Orthomyxoviridae , Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus , Attention , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections , Disease Outbreaks , Humans , Medical Oncology , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , SARS-CoV-2 , Seasons , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2)-related pneumonia, referred to as COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 19), is a public health emergency as it carries high morbidity, mortality, and has no approved specific pharmacological treatments. In this case series, we aimed to report preliminary data obtained with anti-complement C5 therapy with eculizumab in COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of ASL Napoli 2 Nord. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a case series of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV2 infection and severe pneumonia or ARDS who were treated with up to 4 infusions of eculizumab as an off-label agent. Patients were also treated with anticoagulant therapy with Enoxaparin 4000 IU/day via subcutaneous injection, antiviral therapy with Lopinavir 800 mg/day + Ritonavir 200 mg/day, hydroxychloroquine 400 mg/day, ceftriaxone 2 g/day IV, vitamine C 6 g/day for 4 days, and were on Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV). RESULTS: We treated four COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit because of severe pneumonia or ARDS. All patients successfully recovered after treatment with eculizumab. Eculizumab induced a drop in inflammatory markers. Mean C Reactive Protein levels dropped from 14.6 mg/dl to 3.5 mg/dl and the mean duration of the disease was 12.8 days. CONCLUSIONS: Eculizumab has the potential to be a key player in treatment of severe cases of COVID-19. Our results support eculizumab use as an off-label treatment of COVID-19, pending confirmation from the ongoing SOLID-C19 trial.