Unknown Causes of Death in Cancer Patients.

Objectives: Deaths from an unknown cause are difficult to adjudicate and oncologic studies of comparative effectiveness often demonstrate inconsistencies in incorporating these deaths and competing events (eg, heart disease and stroke) in their analyses. In this study, we identify cancer patients most at risk for death of an unknown cause.

Methods: This retrospective, population-based study used cancer registry data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (1992-2015).

The role of smoking in COVID-19 progression: a comprehensive meta-analysis.

The association between current smoking and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) progression remains uncertain. We aim to provide up-to-date evidence of the role of cigarette smoking in COVID-19 hospitalisation, severity and mortality. On 23 February 2022 we conducted an umbrella review and a traditional systematic review PubMed/Medline and Web of Science.

Case for investment in tobacco cessation: a population-based analysis in low- and middle-income countries.

This study aimed to estimate the return on investments of three population-level tobacco cessation strategies and three pharmacological interventions. The analysis included 124 low- and middle-income countries, and assumed a 10-year investment period (2021-2030). The results indicate that all six cessation programmes could help about 152 million tobacco users quit and save 2.

Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship in India and Indonesia: Present Regime and the Way Forward.

One of the important factors contributing to tobacco epidemic is tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS). TAPS is employed by tobacco industry to increase demand for its products, often through targeting specific groups or market segments. The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) recommends implementation of comprehensive bans on TAPS as part of an effective set of tobacco control policies.

Implementation of MPOWER Package in the South-East Asia Region: Evidence from the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic (2009-2021).

The WHO MPOWER package is a set of six evidence-based and cost-effective measures which was introduced on 7 February 2008 to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at the ground level. These measures are: Monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies (M); Protecting people from tobacco smoke (P); Offering help to quit tobacco use (O); Warning about the dangers of tobacco (W); Enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (E); and Raising taxes on tobacco (R). Since its launch, the MPOWER package has become the guiding principle for all the countries of the South-East Asia Region in their crusade against the tobacco epidemic.

Association between electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems with initiation of tobacco use in individuals aged < 20 years. A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: This systematic review described the association between electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENDS/ENNDS) use among non-smoking children and adolescents aged <20 years with subsequent tobacco use.

Methods: We searched five electronic databases and the grey literature up to end of September 2020. Prospective longitudinal studies that described the association between ENDS/ENNDS use, and subsequent tobacco use in those aged < 20 years who were non-smokers at baseline were included.

Prevalence of electronic nicotine delivery systems and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: There are concerns that the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS) in children and adolescents could potentially be harmful to health. Understanding the extent of use of these devices is crucial to informing public health policy. We aimed to synthesise the prevalence of ENDS or ENNDS use in children and adolescents younger than 20 years.

Cost-Effectiveness of Population Level and Individual Level Interventions to Combat Non-communicable Disease in Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia: A WHO-CHOICE Analysis.

Background: To determine the health system costs and health-related benefits of interventions for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health disorders, for the purpose of identifying the most cost-effective intervention options in support of global normative guidance on the best-buy interventions for NCDs. In addition, tools are developed to allow country contextualisation of the analyses to support local priority setting exercises.

Methods: This analysis follows the standard WHO-CHOICE (World Health Organization-Choosing Interventions that are Cost-Effective) approach to generalized cost-effectiveness analysis applied to two regions, Eastern sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia.

Targeted Cancer Therapies.

Targeted cancer therapies involve chemotherapeutic agents that attack, directly or indirectly, a specific genetic biomarker found in a given cancer. Targeted oncology includes monoclonal antibodies, small molecule inhibitors, antibody-drug conjugates, and immunotherapy. For example, the monoclonal antibodies trastuzumab and pertuzumab target human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and are used when treating HER2-positive breast cancer.

Lung health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: the need to end designated smoking areas in public places (Editorial).

Tobacco use is a fatal habit that causes harm to almost all organs of the human body and kills up to half of its users. Studies have shown that tobacco contains a poisonous mix of more than 7000 chemicals that have major consequences, including heart attacks and strokes , and are considered major risk factors for many types of cancer (4) and the leading cause of lung cancer. Moreover, tobacco use dramatically affects the respiratory system, damaging its airways and alveoli, and leading to chronic obstructive lung diseases1 including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Current Tobacco Smoking, Quit Attempts, and Knowledge About Smoking Risks Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years - Global Adult Tobacco Survey, 28 Countries, 2008-2016.

Each year, tobacco use causes approximately 7 million deaths worldwide, including approximately 6 million among tobacco users and an estimated 890,000 among nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke (1). Tobacco use is a leading preventable cause of disease globally and has been determined to cause adverse health outcomes such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and multiple types of cancer, including lung cancer (2-4). Approximately 80% of the world's 1.

The WHO-ERS Smoking Cessation Training Project: the first year of experience.

http://ow.ly/lWDF30krq5V.

Correlates of compliance with national comprehensive smoke-free laws.

Objective: To explore correlates of high compliance with smoking bans in a cross-sectional data set from the 41 countries with national comprehensive smoke-free laws in 2014 and complete data on compliance and enforcement.

Methods: Outcome variable: compliance with a national comprehensive smoke-free law in each country was obtained for 2014 from the WHO global report on the global tobacco epidemic. Explanatory variables: legal enforcement requirements, penalties, infrastructure and strategy were obtained through a separate survey of governments.

Moving away from the comfort zone of tobacco control policies to the highest level of implementation (Editorial).

The year 2015 marked the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Following this, in the same year, the 18th comprehensive national tobacco control law(s) was adopted in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Member countries of the EMR have come a long way in tobacco control legislation since the entry into force of the WHO FCTC, with 19 of the 22 countries now party to it (except Morocco, Palestine and Somalia).

Susan Bates, M.D., and Antonio "Tito" Fojo, M.D., Ph.D.: Thirty Years of Research, Discovery, Service, and Mentorship at the National Cancer Institute.

The authors pay tribute to Dr. Susan Bates's and Dr. Antonio “Tito” Fojo's careers of more than 30 years with the National Cancer Institute.