March 2020 - SCOR - Southeast Clinical Oncology Research Consortium

Coronavirus: What People with Cancer Should Know

March 16, 2020/in Cancer, Covid-19, NCI, NCORP

What is coronavirus, or COVID-19?

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different species of animals. CDC is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in China and has now been detected in the United States and many other countries. The virus has been named SARS-CoV-2, and the disease it causes has been named coronavirus disease 2019, which is abbreviated COVID-19.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and the risk assessment will be updated as needed.

If I have cancer, am I at higher risk of getting or dying from COVID-19?

Some types of cancer and treatments such as chemotherapy can weaken your immune system and may increase your risk of any infection, including with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. During chemotherapy, there will be times in your treatment cycle when you are at increased risk of infection.Adults and children with serious chronic health conditions, including cancer, are at higher risk of developing more serious complications from contagious illnesses such as COVID-19.

If I have cancer, how can I protect myself?

There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19 or specific treatment for it. The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus. Precautions for avoiding COVID-19 are the same as for other contagious respiratory illnesses, such as influenza (flu).

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyday preventive measures to help prevent the spread of respiratory infections, including:

Avoid large social gatherings and close contact with people who are sick
Avoid unnecessary person-to-person contact, such as handshakes
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; and before and after coming in contact with others
Get a flu vaccine

CDC recommends additional actions to help keep people at high risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19 healthy in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak in your community, including:

Stay home as much as possible
Make sure you have access to several weeks of medication and supplies in case you need to stay home for prolonged periods of time
When you do go out in public, avoid crowds
Avoid cruise ship travel and nonessential air travel

NCI provides tips and resources for the cancer community to prepare for any emergency.

I receive cancer treatment at a medical facility. What should I do about getting treatment?

Call your health care provider and follow their guidance.

I participate in a clinical trial at a medical facility. What should I do?

Call your clinical trial research team and follow their guidance.

What should I do if I have symptoms of an infection?

Call your health care provider if you think you have been exposed to COVID-19 and have symptoms of an infection.

Related Resources:

Why are a lower percentage of cancer patients dying?

March 11, 2020/in Charlotte, Novant Health

‘Commitment from patients, physicians and policymakers throughout the country’

From Novant Healthy Headlines

By Cliff Mehrtens

March 10, 2020

The cancer mortality rate in America is dropping.

Dr. Joseph Merriman

Cancer deaths have declined 29% in the past three decades, including a 2.2% drop in 2017, the largest single-year decline since recordkeeping began in 1930, according to the recent American Cancer Society annual statistics report.

“I hope it gives great hope that what we’re doing is making progress and moving the needle,” said Dr. Joseph Merriman, a medical oncologist at Novant Health Cancer Specialists – Charlotte. “The progress we see in this report reflects the commitment from patients, physicians and policymakers throughout the country, in addition to the science behind it.”

Merriman said several factors contribute to the decline:

Patients and communities are better informed.
Physicians can provide improved diagnostics and treatments, specifically in the care of patients with lung cancer and melanoma.
Fewer people are smoking.
More people are seeking appropriate screenings, such as mammograms, colonoscopies and low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans for lung cancer.
Advances have been made in targeted drugs and immunotherapy, which is the process of using a patient’s immune system to fight cancer.

“While we focus on and praise the research and therapies, we also have to credit those millions of selfless patients who have made this progress possible through participation in studies across the U.S.,” Merriman said.

Through clinical trials, doctors determine whether new treatments are safe and effective, and if they work better than current treatments. Clinical trials also help find new ways to prevent and detect cancer.

Talk with your doctor to determine if a clinical trial could be right for you. Call the Novant Health Oncology Research Institute in Charlotte (704-384-5369) or the Novant Health Clinical Research Institute in Winston-Salem (316-277-0910) to learn more about current trial participation opportunities.

Novant Health cancer patients and their caregivers will benefit from the new Edward I. and Agnes B. Weisiger Cancer Center, scheduled to open this fall.

“All these new treatments and innovations are only as good as they are accessible,” Merriman said. “Our focus is to bring the most innovative standard of care to the community locally. Charlotte is a robust community, so why not be able to offer the latest, whether it be optimizing the standard of care or a clinical trial or research for the community here?”

Multiple Myeloma Clinical Trial Benefits

March 11, 2020/in Cancer, Cancer Clinical Trial, Clinical Trial, Clinical Trial Success, NIH

Multiple Myeloma is a type of blood cancer that starts in white blood cells called plasma cells, which help your body fight infections. Mutations occur when the genetic material in plasma cells changes, causing plasma cells to become problematic myeloma cells. As myeloma cells multiply, they crowd out normal blood cells inside bone marrow, and that’s when symptoms can appear.

In this video from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Pamela shares her reasons for choosing to participate in a clinical trial to help treat her stage 3B multiple myeloma. Find more information about clinical trials in your community here.

Sources: www.nih.gov, www.multiplemyelomaandyou.com

Sanford’s Cook is the First to Undergo Procedure to “Zap” Lung Cancer

March 10, 2020/in Clinical Trial, Pinehurst, Robotic surgery

From FirstHealth.org
Nov 20, 2019

Pinehurst patient first in NC to undergo clinical trial for lung cancer.

Terri Cook of Pinehurst, NC

PINEHURST—A routine physical in 2015 revealed lung cancer in non-smoker Terri Cook. A surgeon removed her upper right lobe and scans every six months for two years revealed no more cancer. Then in November 2017, the only time she went to a scan without her husband, the doctor reported “one, maybe two” concerning lesions on her lower right lobe. Cook held it together in front of her physician, but that brave face didn’t last when she told her husband.

Since Cook had a previous lobectomy, a second surgery was not an ideal situation, so her doctor offered two options: radiation or microwave ablation, the latter offered through a clinical trial to determine efficacy of a new type of lung cancer treatment. “When I heard ‘clinical trial’ I immediately thought ‘guinea pig,’” she said.

Her physician explained that colleague Michael Pritchett, D.O, MPH, pulmonary specialist at Pinehurst Medical Clinic and director of the Chest Center of the Carolinas, had just returned from the United Kingdom where he assisted with a bronchoscopy with microwave ablation, a procedure in which a flexible probe is inserted through the mouth, routed directly to the cancerous lesion and “zapped” with microwave energy. Dr. Pritchett had been selected as one of the few providers in the United States to offer this procedure through a clinical trial.

“My physician and I had developed a good rapport over the years, and he said if it were his wife, he would recommend the clinical trial,” said Cook. She and her husband acted on his recommendation and Dr. Pritchett performed the procedure on June 29, 2018.

Cook made national history that day in June, explaining, “I was the very first person in the United States to receive this procedure. Everyone was so excited and there were lots of people in the room watching.” She reported minimal discomfort after the procedure and after an overnight stay in the hospital, she recovered quickly at home.

The second of the concerning lesions initially reported also turned out to be cancerous, so Dr. Pritchett made a special request for Cook to be not only the first American to receive the procedure, but also the ninth. He was granted the second procedure for her and completed it on March 15, 2019. The United States received 20 slots for the clinical trial, and Cook was a good candidate to have it twice. The Mayo Clinic is the only other site for this trial.

“I feel wonderful now!” said the 64-year-old grandmother of two with a third on the way. “I can breathe!”

Cook is now almost a year and half out from her initial ablation, and the follow-up CT scans show no evidence of cancer.

Cook reported that everyone she worked with, including Dr. Pritchett and the entire staff at Reid Heart Center, was wonderful. “I felt truly cared for,” she said.

A substitute teacher from Sanford, Cook reflected on her participation in this clinical trial and reported, “I think it’s amazing what can be done now — and right in Pinehurst! Every time I teach in Pittsboro, my colleagues assume my medical care was in Chapel Hill. When I told them Pinehurst, they said, ‘really?’ and I replied, “Yes, really!”

Patients and their families seeking more information about clinical trials at FirstHealth of the Carolinas can visit https://www.firsthealth.org/reference/clinical-trials or talk with the patient’s physician. Find cancer clinical trials in your community by visiting https://southeastclinicaloncology.org/clinical-trials/

Coronavirus: What People with Cancer Should Know

Why are a lower percentage of cancer patients dying?

Multiple Myeloma Clinical Trial Benefits

Sanford’s Cook is the First to Undergo Procedure to “Zap” Lung Cancer

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