The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the wellbeing of breast cancer (BC) patients is not well understood. This study described psychosocial problems among these patients in the United States (US) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from BC patients via an online self-report survey between 30 March-6 July 2021 to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 diagnosis history and potential depression, health-related quality of life, COVID-related stress, and financial toxicity. Patients with early-stage (eBC) and metastatic (mBC) disease were compared. Of 669 patients included in the analysis, the prevalence of COVID-19 diagnosis history (10.9% versus 7.7%) and potential depression (33.7% versus 28.3%) were higher in mBC than eBC patients. Patients with eBC (versus mBC) had higher scores on nearly all Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast scales (all, < 0.001). For the Psychological Impact of Cancer subscales measuring negative coping strategies, the emotional distress score was the highest (9.1 ± 1.8) in the overall sample. Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity scores were higher in eBC than in mBC patients (24.2 ± 11.3 vs. 21.3 ± 10.2, < 0.001). Overall, the COVID-19-related stress score was highest for danger/contamination fears (8.2 ± 5.6). In conclusion, impairments to psychosocial wellbeing among patients during the pandemic were observed, particularly financial toxicity and poor mental health and emotional functioning, with greater problems among mBC patients.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/curroncol30040294 | DOI Listing |
Cancer
January 2025
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Background: Little is known about the role that charitable copay assistance (CPA) plays in addressing access to care and financial distress. The study sought to evaluate financial distress and experience with CPA among patients with cancer and autoimmune disease.
Methods: This is a national cross-sectional self-administered anonymous electronic survey conducted among recipients of CPA to cover the costs of a drug for cancer or autoimmune disease.
Discov Oncol
January 2025
Western Institute of Digital-Intelligent Medicine, 401329, Chongqing, China.
Background: The metabolism of stearoyl-GPE plays a key role in the liver metastasis of gastric cancer. This investigation delves into the mechanisms underlying the intricate tumor microenvironment (TME) heterogeneity triggered by stearoyl metabolism in gastric cancer with liver metastasis (LMGC), offering novel perspectives for LMGC.
Objective: Utilizing Mendelian randomization, we determined that stearoyl metabolism significantly contributes to the progression of gastric cancer (GC).
J Membr Biol
January 2025
Laboratório de Bioquímica Celular, Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Divinópolis, Brazil.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and its treatment is hampered by the lack of specificity and side effects of current drugs. Cardiotonic steroids (CTS) interact with Na/K-ATPase (NKA) and induce antineoplastic effects, but their narrow therapeutic window is key limiting factor. The synthesis of digitoxigenin derivatives with glycosidic unit modifications is a promising approach to develop more selective and effective antitumor agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer Med
January 2025
Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
Background: This study investigated and compared the impact of financial toxicity (FT) on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and financial well-being of cancer patients and survivors in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US).
Methods: UK & US participants (n = 600) completed an online questionnaire that consisted of a validated FT instrument (COmprehensive Score for financial Toxicity-COST), a standardised HRQoL instrument (EQ-5D-5L) and questions related to their financial well-being. Tobit regression models and descriptive statistics plus χ tests were used to analyse the association between FT and (i) HRQoL whilst controlling for sociodemographic characteristics; and (ii) financial well-being.
Curr Res Toxicol
December 2024
Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Department of Food Safety, University of Bonn, Germany.
The anthraquinone dye Alizarin Red S (ARS) is used for marking live animals, specifically as a tool for monitoring the stock of the endangered European eel by marking caught fish with ARS before releasing the eels back into the wild. As ARS can be found in recaptured eels even years later, knowledge of potential health hazards of ARS is essential for assessing the food safety of eels marked with ARS. As the compound class of anthraquinones is known for their genotoxic and carcinogenic properties, concerns were raised regarding the food safety of marked eels.
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