0000000000248414

AUTHOR

Matti Aapro

Integration of oncology and palliative care: a Lancet Oncology Commission.

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Full integration of oncology and palliative care relies on the specific knowledge and skills of two modes of care: the tumour-directed approach, the main focus of which is on treating the disease; and the host-directed approach, which focuses on the patient with the disease. This Commission addresses how to combine these two paradigms to achieve the best outcome of patient care. Randomised clinical trials on integration of oncology and palliative care point to health gains: improved survival and symptom control, less anxiety and depression, reduced use of futile chemotherapy at the end of life, improved family satisfaction and quality of life, and improved use of health-…

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European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) position paper on supportive and palliative care

Oncology has come a long way in addressing patients' quality of life, together with developing surgical, radio-oncological and medical anticancer therapies. However, the multiple and varying needs of patients are still not beingmet adequately as part of routine cancer care. Supportive and palliative care interventions should be integrated, dynamic, personalised and based on best evidence. They should start at the time of diagnosis and continue through to end-of-life or survivorship. ESMO is committed to excellence in all aspects of oncological care during the continuum of the cancer experience. Following the 2003 ESMO stand on supportive and palliative care (Cherny N, Catane R, Kosmidis P. …

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The Porto European Cancer Research Summit 2021.

Key stakeholders from the cancer research continuum met in May 2021 at the European Cancer Research Summit in Porto to discuss priorities and specific action points required for the successful implementation of the European Cancer Mission and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP). Speakers presented a unified view about the need to establish high‐quality, networked infrastructures to decrease cancer incidence, increase the cure rate, improve patient's survival and quality of life, and deal with research and care inequalities across the European Union (EU). These infrastructures, featuring Comprehensive Cancer Centres (CCCs) as key components, will integrate care, prevention and research acros…

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Changing the education paradigm in oncology: ESO masterclass, 17 years of continuous success

In this review, we summarize the history of the 41 Masterclasses in Clinical Oncology (MCO) organized by ESO or ESO-ESMO during the last 17 years. MCOs have been held in five different geographical regions including: a) Central Europe, b) Eastern Europe and Balkans, c) Baltic and Euroasia, d) Arab World and Southern European Countries and e) Latin America. More than 2.000 young oncologists have attended and more than 250 distinguished faculty members have actively participated. The program exposes students to sessions covering all major tumors ("big killers") and to spotlights updating information on various important cancers and related topics. Participants are able to present their own cl…

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Erythropoietin: effects on life expectancy in patients with cancer-related anaemia

ABSTRACTAnaemia is common in patients with cancer and has a detrimental impact on the quality of life. Anaemia has also been shown to reduce survival in patients with cancer. Tumour hypoxia resulting from the reduced oxygen carrying capacity of the blood in anaemic patients has been hypothesised to be a major contributor to this reduced survival. Several studies have shown that tumour hypoxia reduces the effectiveness of anticancer therapies including standard radiotherapy and some types of chemotherapy, and is associated with tumour progression. Moreover, preclinical data have demonstrated that erythropoietic protein therapy may delay tumour progression by improving tumour oxygenation. Mos…

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