Manejo de pacientes oncológicos na prática odontológica: uma revisão de literatura / Management of cancer patients in dental practice: a literature review / Manejo de pacientes con cáncer en la práctica odontológica: una revisión de la literatura

O manejo odontológico adaptado ao paciente que é diagnosticado com câncer é fundamental para a melhoria e manutenção da qualidade de vida dos mesmos. Esses indivíduos devem ser submetidos a uma avaliação odontológica prévia ao tratamento anticancerígeno, a fim de estabelecer as etapas necessárias às intervenções e o que pode ser realizado antes, durante e pós-tratamento, sendo essas fases executadas na clínica diária ou até mesmo no ambiente hospitalar, exercendo um trabalho multidisciplinar. A presente revisão de literatura tem como objetivo direcionar a atenção dos cirurgiões dentistas para o planejamento e atendimento personalizado dos pacientes oncológicos, de acordo com suas necessidades e particularidades.

Dental management adapted to patients diagnosed with cancer is essential for improving and maintaining their quality of life. These individuals must undergo a dental evaluation prior to anticancer treatment, in order to establish the necessary steps for interventions and what can be done before, during and after treatment, these phases being performed in the daily clinic or even in the hospital environment, exercising multidisciplinary work. This literature review aims to direct the attention of dentists to the planning and personalized care of cancer patients, according to their needs and particularities.

El manejo odontológico adaptado a los pacientes diagnosticados de cáncer es esencial para mejorar y mantener su calidad de vida. Estas personas deben someterse a una evaluación odontológica previa al tratamiento anticanceroso, con el fin de establecer los pasos necesarios para las intervenciones y lo que se puede hacer antes, durante y después del tratamiento, siendo estas fases realizadas en la clínica diaria o incluso en el ámbito hospitalario, ejerciendo un trabajo multidisciplinar. Esta revisión bibliográfica pretende dirigir la atención de los odontólogos a la planificación y atención personalizada de los pacientes con cáncer, de acuerdo con sus necesidades y particularidades.

Status of breast cancer in Latin American: Results of the breast cancer revealed initiative.

The Breast Cancer Revealed initiative was designed and conducted to know the status of breast cancer at each point of breast cancer care, through i) prevention, ii) detection, iii) diagnosis, iv) treatment, and iv) the capacity of our health systems. The expert panel from 11 Latin American countries identified several strategies and proposed high impact priorities, including implementation of prevention policies, improve primary healthcare capacity for breast cancer screening, have adequate infrastructure to make effective and timely diagnoses, have a multidisciplinary team in the treatment process, access to a variety of treatments for all types of patients, have a coordinated and articulated system from primary care to specialized hospital. In a region with limited resources, prioritization in high-impact strategies for breast cancer control could lead to improved clinical outcomes and quality of life for our patients.

The Epstein-Barr Virus Hacks Immune Checkpoints: Evidence and Consequences for Lymphoproliferative Disorders and Cancers.

The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is a gammaherpesvirus involved in the etiopathogenesis of a variety of human cancers, mostly of lymphoid and epithelial origin. The EBV infection participates in both cell transformation and tumor progression, also playing an important role in subverting immune responses against cancers. The homeostasis of the immune system is tightly regulated by inhibitory mechanisms affecting key immune effectors, such as T lymphocytes and NK cells. Collectively known as immune checkpoints, these mechanisms rely on a set of cellular receptors and ligands. These molecules may be candidate targets for immune checkpoints blockade-an emergent and promising modality of immunotherapy already proven to be valuable for a variety of human cancers. The EBV was lately suspected to interfere with the expression of immune checkpoint molecules, notably PD-1 and its ligands, found to be overexpressed in cases of Hodgkin lymphoma, nasopharyngeal, and gastric adenocarcinomas associated with the viral infection. Even though there is compelling evidence showing that the EBV interferes with other immune checkpoint regulators (e.g., CTLA-4, LAG-3, TIM-3, and VISTA), the published data are still scarce. Herein, we discuss the current state of the knowledge on how the EBV interferes with the activity of immune checkpoints regulators, as well as its implications considering the immune checkpoints blockade for clinical management of the EBV-associated malignancies, notably lymphomas.

Calidad de atención y mejora continua en el abordaje integral del cáncer de mama: Evaluación de indicadores en una Unidad de Mastología / Quality of care and continous improvement in a comprehensive approach of breast cancer management: evaluation of indicators in a breast center

Introducción: las Unidades de Mastología son organizaciones que tienen por objetivo abordar la patología mamaria de manera multidisciplinaria e integral. A nivel mundial se han implementado programas para evaluar la calidad de atención a través del cumplimiento de indicadores propuestos por Sociedades Científicas u organismos gubernamentales. Algunos de estos han sido propuestos y revisados por la Sociedad Europea de Mastología (EUSOMA). Objetivo: evaluar la calidad de atención de la Unidad de Mastología del Hospital Juan A. Fernández a través del análisis de una serie de indicadores propuestos por EUSOMA como estándares de calidad de atención en centros de patología mamaria. Material y método: estudio descriptivo retrospectivo analizando la base de datos de las pacientes con cáncer de mama estadios 0 a III operadas entre 2015 y 2019. Se analizaron 25 indicadores de procesos propuestos por EUSOMA en 2017. Se registraron las características de la población, y el porcentaje de pacientes en las cuales se cumple la condición de cada uno de los indicadores. Se registró si el indicador alcanza o supera el mínimo estándar, o si alcanza o supera el valor ideal. Resultados: se evaluaron 284 pacientes. Se observó el cumplimiento de la mayoría de los estándares propuestos (18 de 25), alcanzando o superando en el 25% de los indicadores evaluados el valor ideal. Se lograron alcanzar los estándares de calidad de atención relacionados con el diagnóstico clínico y preoperatorio, caracterización anatomopatológica completa en carcinoma invasor, evaluación multidisciplinaria, tratamiento quirúrgico primario en carcinoma invasor e in situ. Se alcanzaron los objetivos tendientes a evitar el sobretratamiento quirúrgico en carcinoma invasor y en cirugía conservadora en carcinoma in situ. En relación a los tratamientos adyuvantes, se alcanzaron los estándares relacionados con radioterapia post cirugía conservadora y post mastectomía, así como también el tratamiento con hormonoterapia y quimioterapia. El seguimiento de los pacientes se realizó en tiempo en tiempo y forma de acuerdo al indicador establecido. Existen 3 indicadores de calidad obligatorios en los que no se alcanzó el estándar mínimo: se observó la necesidad de mejorar la accesibilidad a los tratamientos antiHer2neu en neoadyuvancia, y de reducir los tiempos de espera al inicio del tratamiento. Conclusiones: se observó el cumplimiento de la mayoría de los estándares propuestos. Dado que existen indicadores obligatorios en los que no se alcanzó el estándar mínimo, los esfuerzos primarios deberán centrarse prioritaria e inicialmente en diseñar una planificación que permita alcanzar estos objetivos, así como también mantener en el tiempo los valores positivos ya alcanzados. Se pone de manifiesto la necesidad de implementar políticas a nivel sanitario nacional que permitan mejorar la accesibilidad a medicación oncológica. A su vez, destacamos la importancia de definir indicadores propios con valores ajustados a las características de nuestro país y mantener una evaluación periódica de la calidad de atención a través de los mismos.

Introduction: Breast Units are organizations that manage Breast Cancer in a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach. Worlwide, programs have been developed in order to evaluate quality of care through the achievement of certain standards of care that have been proposed by scientific organizations, medical associations or government health departments. Some of these indicators have beeb proposed by the European Society of Breast Cancer Specialist (EUSOMA). Objective: to evaluate quality of care in the Breast Unit at Hospital Juan A Fernández (Buenos Aires, Argentina) through the analysis of a series of indicators described by EUSOMA as standard of care in breast centers. Material and method: we performed a descriptive, retrospective analysis of our database including patients with breast cancer stage 0 to III that wer treated between 2015 and 2019. We studied 25 quality of care process indicators proposed by EUSOMA in 2017. We registered population characteristics and the percentage of patients in which each indicator mínimum requirements were achieved. We also studied whether our results achieved or were beyond the ideal targets for each indicator. Results: a total of 284 patients were evaluated. The mínimum standard of care was achieved in most of the evaluated indicators (18 of 25) and in 25% of these, our results achieved or exce3ded the ideal requirements. The indicators in which the mínimum or ideal standard of care was accomplished were regarding clinical and preoperative diagnosis anatomopathological characterisation in invasive breast cancer, multidisciplinary approach, primary surgical management in invasive and in situ breast cancer, avoidanc of overtreatement in invasive breast cancer and breast conserving therapy in carcinoma in situ. Regarding adjuvant treatment, the standard of care was achieved in radiotherapy after breast conserving surgery and after mastectomy, endocrine therapy and chemotherapy. The follow up timing was according to the indicator. There were 3 mandatory indicators in which the mínimum standards were not achieved and were regarding accesibility to anti Her2neu agents in neoadjuvant setting, and timing form diagnosis to firts treatment. Conclusions: we observed that out Breast Unit achieved most of the quality of care indicators described by EUSOMA. However, there 3 mandatory indicators where the results were below the mínimum. This is why future efforts should be focused on designing and planning new measures that will allow these objectives to be accomplished, as well as maintaining what has already been achived. Our results also show the imperious need to implement national public health pólices that would grant a better accesiblility to oncologic medications. We also analysed the importance of defining our own local quality of care indicators in relation to our health policies and current situation, as well as the importance of a continuous evaluation of quality of care through these indicators.

Alternative management for gynecological cancer care during the COVID-2019 pandemic: A Latin American survey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the acceptance rate of treatment alternatives for women with either preinvasive conditions or gynecologic cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic among Latin American gynecological cancer specialists. METHODS: Twelve experts in gynecological cancer designed an electronic survey, according to recommendations from international societies, using an online platform. The survey included 22 questions on five topics: consultation care, preinvasive cervical pathology, and cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancer. The questionnaire was distributed to 1052 specialists in 14 Latin American countries. A descriptive analysis was carried out using statistical software. RESULTS: A total of 610 responses were received, for an overall response rate of 58.0%. Respondents favored offering teleconsultation as triage for post-cancer treatment follow-up (94.6%), neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer (95.6%), and total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and defining adjuvant treatment with histopathological features in early stage endometrial cancer (85.4%). Other questions showed agreement rates of over 64%, except for review of pathology results in person and use of upfront concurrent chemoradiation for early stage cervical cancer (disagreement 56.4% and 58.9%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Latin American specialists accepted some alternative management strategies for gynecological cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may reflect the region's particularities. The COVID-19 pandemic led Latin American specialists to accept alternative management strategies for gynecological cancer care, especially regarding surgical decisions.

Consensus on management of metastatic colorectal cancer in Central America and the Caribbean: San José, Costa Rica, August 2016.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in men and the second most common in women worldwide. In Latin America and the Caribbean, it has a mortality of 56%. The median overall survival for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is currently estimated as ~30 months, which has substantially improved through strategic changes in treatment and in the management of patients. As opposed to other metastatic cancers where first-line regimens are often determined, mCRC requires special attention because there is controversy in the possible combinations of the available drugs and the different periods of duration for each patient. Each combination must seek to be effective and to generate the minimum adverse effects as possible. Instead of giving the first-line regimen until the tumour progresses, treatment is often individualised. Furthermore, up to 60% of colorectal tumours are considered non-mutated or wild-type CRC. Not harbouring mutations in the RAS family of genes or mutations in the signalling pathways of the epidermal growth factor receptor causes a null response to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody therapy, which implies even more complex considerations regarding its management. The primary objective of this consensus is to address the main scenarios of mCRC in order to warrant the most appropriate therapeutic intervention for these patients in the Central American and the Caribbean (CAC) region. This can lead to better clinical outcomes as well as quality of life for palliative patients. This document includes the formal expert consensus recommendations for scenarios of mutated and non-mutated mCRC, including synchronous or metachronous disease, management of mCRC with liver and lung metastasis, resectable, potentially resectable or non-resectable tumours and local in the CAC context.

The use of biosimilar medicines in oncology - position statement of the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology (SBOC)

A biosimilar is a biologic product that is similar to a reference biopharmaceutical product, the manufacturing process of which hinders the ability to identically replicate the structure of the original product, and therefore, it cannot be described as an absolute equivalent of the original medication. The currently available technology does not allow for an accurate copy of complex molecules, but it does allow the replication of similar molecules with the same activity. As biosimilars are about to be introduced in oncology practice, these must be evaluated through evidence-based medicine. This manuscript is a position paper, where the Brazilian Society of Clinical Oncology (SBOC) aims to describe pertinent issues regarding the approval and use of biosimilars in oncology. As a working group on behalf of SBOC, we discuss aspects related to definition, labeling/nomenclature, extrapolation, interchangeability, switching, automatic substitution, clinical standards on safety and efficacy, and the potential impact on financial burden in healthcare. We take a stand in favor of the introduction of biosimilars, as they offer a viable, safe, and cost-effective alternative to the biopharmaceutical products currently used in cancer. We hope this document can provide valuable information to support therapeutic decisions that maximize the clinical benefit for the thousands of cancer patients in Brazil and can contribute to expedite the introduction of this new drug class in clinical practice. We expect the conveyed information to serve as a basis for further discussion in Latin America, this being the first position paper issued by a Latin American Oncology Society.

Câncer ano-reto-cólico: aspectos atuais v: câncer de reto: tratamento cirúrgico / Anal canal and colorectal cancer: current features: v: rectal cancer: surgical management

O desenvolvimento tecnológico dos últimos anos proporcionou amplas conquistas aplicáveis à Medicina como pouco ocorreu em outras épocas e, no campo da Cirurgia, só teve paralelo na descoberta do controle e domínio da dor e no advento dos antibióticos. Por outro lado, é tão grande o universo do desenvolvimento técnico e tão rápido sua transformação, que nós não temos tempo para avaliar criteriosamente os efeitos de sua transposição para a área médica. A evolução técnica é mais rápida do que sua adequação e uso em benefício da saúde, sobretudo no campo da aplicação das ciências cirúrgicas. As mais otimistas previsões para o próximo futuro deixaram, um pouco de lado, a experiência dos últimos 100 anos em que o extraordinário desenvolvimento tecnológico não proporcionou a contundente revolução que poderia ser esperada. Por exemplo, no campo da Coloproctologia, mormente se nos referirmos ao tratamento e à cura do câncer cólon-retal, o maior benefício foi artesanal, decorrente da destreza cirúrgica na criação da excisão total do mesorreto (ETM), que proporcionou ao paciente menor recidiva local, mais longa expectativa de vida e a preservação da continência anal. Por outro lado, a atual esperança evolucionista para o campo da cirurgia cólon-retal e, provavelmente, para outras especialidades cirúrgicas, denominada de "um progresso sem precedente na história das operações cirúrgicas em que as salas cirúrgicas do futuro não lembrarão, em absolutamente nada, as atuais salas²", desdenha as ocorrências registradas no século passado. Não há dúvidas que esse progresso material há de vir, como ocorreu nos últimos 100 anos, contudo o que nos resta é a dúvida a respeito do custo-benefício e, nesses termos, que valor trará para os nossos pacientes com câncer cólon-retal quando o objetivo estabelecido for a cura da doença maligna?

Before laparoscopic treatment of colon and rectal cancer, the TME (total mesorectal excision) was "the standout technique" introduced in the past 100 years able to modify local recurrence, to increase life expectancy of patients with rectal cancer, and to preserve the continence with ultra-low anastomosis through sphincter-sparing procedures. Most all of patients with rectal cancer must be operated with TME technique and only those with malignant neoplasm invading the anal canal should be submitted an abdominoperineal resection.