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The rapid spread of COVID-19 infection and its negative effects on human health caused a great change in oncology practice. Although oncologists respond quickly to this change, anxiety caused by pandemics in some patients prevented cancer treatment. Although patients know that delaying cancer treatment can be life-threatening, they are concerned about contacting the hospital because they are afraid of becoming infected with COVID-19. Here, we would like to present three patients with delayed admission to the hospital to draw attention to the harmful consequences of COVID-19 fear in the community. These patients with cancer-related anxiety may exaggerate protective attitudes during the pandemic process, leading to delayed oncological treatment and poor prognosis of the patient., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Aim: To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of the CoronaVac vaccine in patients with cancer receiving active systemic therapy. Methods: This multicenter, prospective, observational study was conducted with 47 patients receiving active systemic therapy for cancer. CoronaVac was administered as two doses (3 μg/day) on days 0 and 28. Antibody level higher than 1 IU/ml was defined as 'immunogenicity.' Results: The immunogenicity rate was 63.8% (30/47) in the entire patient group, 59.5% (25/42) in those receiving at least one cytotoxic drug and 100% (five of five) in those receiving monoclonal antibody or immunotherapy alone. Age was an independent predictive factor for immunogenicity (odds ratio: 0.830; p = 0.043). Conclusion: More than half of cancer patients receiving active systemic therapy developed immunogenicity.

Objective: When patients feel spiritually supported by staff, we find increased use of hospice and reduced use of aggressive treatments at end of life, yet substantial barriers to staff spiritual care provision still exist. We aimed to study these barriers in a new cultural context and analyzed a new subgroup with "unrealized potential" for improved spiritual care provision: those who are positively inclined toward spiritual care yet do not themselves provide it., Method: We distributed the Religion and Spirituality in Cancer Care Study via the Middle East Cancer Consortium to physicians and nurses caring for advanced cancer patients. Survey items included how often spiritual care should be provided, how often respondents themselves provide it, and perceived barriers to spiritual care provision.ResultWe had 770 respondents (40% physicians, 60% nurses) from 14 Middle Eastern countries. The results showed that 82% of respondents think staff should provide spiritual care at least occasionally, but 44% provide spiritual care less often than they think they should. In multivariable analysis of respondents who valued spiritual care yet did not themselves provide it to their most recent patients, predictors included low personal sense of being spiritual (p < 0.001) and not having received training (p = 0.02; only 22% received training). How "developed" a country is negatively predicted spiritual care provision (p < 0.001). Self-perceived barriers were quite similar across cultures.Significance of resultsDespite relatively high levels of spiritual care provision, we see a gap between desirability and actual provision. Seeing oneself as not spiritual or only slightly spiritual is a key factor demonstrably associated with not providing spiritual care. Efforts to increase spiritual care provision should target those in favor of spiritual care provision, promoting training that helps participants consider their own spirituality and the role that it plays in their personal and professional lives.

Objective: The reactivation rate of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in cancer patients and chemotherapy regimens thought to be associated with hepatitis reactivation were investigated., Patients and Methods: In all, 3,890 cancer patients were included in this study. Mortality rates, chemotherapy regimens, cancer types, number of positive hepatitis serology and reactivation rates were obtained., Results: Only 354 patients had positive hepatitis serology results (HBsAg+). Twenty-four patients (6.7%) with HBsAg positive serology had reactivation. In patients with hepatitis reactivation, the rates of usage of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, steroid, rituximab, and vincristine were found to be significantly higher than corresponding rates in patients with positive hepatitis serology results but without hepatitis reactivation (p < 0.05 for all)., Conclusion: Increased reactivation rates were detected with usage of 5-FU, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, steroid, rituximab, and vincristine., (© 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Cancer patients who start receiving chemotherapy have difficulty in understanding the state of their disease, the prognosis, and the purpose of treatment. We used a survey to evaluate the extent of perception of chemotherapy goal among cancer patients. Two hundred sixteen cancer patients who received chemotherapy for the first time participated in the study. The presence of depression and anxiety was assessed using the "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" (HAD). The consistency between the patients' perception of the chemotherapy goal and the physician's perception was described as "right," and the inconsistency was described as "wrong." Among the patients who participated in the survey, 53.2 % (n = 115) were receiving adjuvant treatment and 46.8 % (n = 101) were receiving palliative treatment for metastatic disease. The rate of right and wrong perception of the chemotherapy goal was 51.9 % (n = 108) and 32.2 % (n = 67), respectively, and the rate of confused patients was 18.9 % (n = 41). The level of education was shown to be the only parameter involved in accurate perception of the treatment purpose (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.444, p = 0.025, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.219-0.903). In this study, there was a 51.9 % consistency between the physician's perception and that of the patient regarding the purpose of treatment. We demonstrated that the level of education was the unique factor in accurate perception of chemotherapy goal among cancer patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Barriers Questionnaire II (BQ-II) for Turkish patients and to define the patient-related barriers to cancer pain management in Turkey. For this, 170 patients with cancer who used or were still using analgesic medication for pain related to cancer participated in the study. It was found that patients have beliefs that may be barriers to optimal pain management, mostly in relation to addiction, and to a small extent, physical side effects. It was ascertained that male, unmarried patients, patients with cancer who also have another chronic disease, patients whose "average pain" intensity is more than 5 for the past 24 hours, and patients who use an inadequate analgesic have more beliefs that may be barriers to optimal pain management. It was concluded that the BQ-II is a valid and reliable scale in Turkey for defining patient-related barriers to cancer pain management.

Purpose: This study was done to evaluate the frequency and severity of mucositis in the early period of stem cell transplantation (SCT) and the relation of conditioning regimens with mucositis., Patients and Methods: Patients with hematologic or solid tumors who underwent conditioning regimen were asked to score mucositis severity daily from the first day to the tenth day of reinfusion. Patient-reported scoring was performed according to a five-grade scale (0: no symptom; 1: mild; 2: moderate; 3: severe; 4: very severe). Total mucositis score (TMS) was defined as the addition of daily mucositis scores for 10 days. A total of 68 SCT (58 autologous and 10 allogeneic) patients, 48 men (71%) and 20 women (29%) were included to the study. Median age of patients was 32.5 (range 15-78) years. The most frequent three diagnosis were non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (37%, n = 25), Hodgkin's lymphoma (12%, n = 8), and multiple myeloma (12%, n = 8). BEAM (n = 27), ICE (n = 17), melphelan 200 mg/m(2) (M200)(n = 8), and TBI+C (total body irradiation + cyclophosphamide) (n = 16) were used as conditioning regimens., Results: All of the patients experienced mucositis at any grade. TMS in the sixth day was higher than TMS in the first day (p < 0.05). TMS was not related to the diagnosis or gender (p > 0.05). TMS at ICE regimen in the first 5 days after transplantation was more severe than BEAM regimen. TMS at TBI+C regimen was higher than TMS at BEAM regimen from day 4 to day 10 (p < 0.05). The mean percentages of patients who scored severe or very severe mucositis in 10 days was 7.4% in BEAM, 8.9% in ICE, 12.5% in M200, and 31.2% in TBI+C groups., Conclusion: Patients experience mucositis frequently following conditioning regimen and SCT. The necessity and the timing of prophylaxis for mucositis change due to the type of conditioning regimens.

Although 18F-FDG-PET is very sensitive for a variety of malignancies, it can lack specificity. In addition to malignant tissue, any active infectious or inflammatory process can demonstrate FDG avidity. We report 3 patients with different types of cancer who had abnormal 18F-FDG uptake on PET scan caused by tuberculous lymphadenitis. All were found to have incidental multiple lymph adenopathies with increased FDG uptake on PET scan. All three patients were proved to have tuberculosis lymphadenitis by pathologic examination and were successfully treated with anti-tuberculous therapy.

Purpose/objectives: To determine whether a relationship exists between quality of life (QOL) and the sociodemographic characteristics of gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, and level of income in patients with cancer in Turkey., Design: Exploratory study using a convenience sample., Setting: Five hospitals in the capital city of Turkey., Sample: 620 patients with cancer (44 inpatients and 576 outpatients)., Methods: The study was carried out using face-to-face interviews. A questionnaire was used as a tool for collecting data on the sociodemographic characteristics of patients, and the Rolls-Royce Quality-of-Life Scale was employed to measure QOL., Main Research Variables: Gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, level of income, and QOL., Findings: Men, older adults, widowed spouses, patients with lower levels of education, housewives, and those with lower income had lower QOL scores., Conclusions: Considering the results and giving the groups referred to in the study priority in the planning of patient care would be useful., Implications for Nursing: In the field of nursing in Turkey, a limited number of studies have examined the relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics of patients with cancer and QOL. The results will help nurses assess patient needs and engage in nursing interventions that are appropriate to the needs.

This study was designed to measure the frequency at which Turkish patients with cancer resort to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). A total of 704 patients referred to the Gülhane Military Medical Academy and Ankara Numune Training Hospital between September 2002 and January 2003 were asked about the CAM therapies they used. Of these, 276 patients (39.2%) had used CAM. Gender, marital status, educational status, age, financial status, severity of pain, history of cancer in the family, and their own ideas concerning CAM therapies were found to be correlated with the frequency of resorting to CAM. Resorting to CAM may lead to delayed diagnosis and treatment, adverse drug interactions, treatment withdrawal, and disease progression. Therefore, it is very important to inform patients about these potential dangers. Further studies are needed to clarify the reasons that lead patients to resort to CAM.

In the past, variable results were reported for single daily and two divided daily doses of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in stem cell collection where no study exists investigating the effect of body mass index (BMI) on mobilization. The numbers of CD34(+) cells collected were compared in 86 patients with solid or hematological malignancies receiving either single daily (14 mug/kg/day) G-CSF (filgrastim) as group I (n=36) or two divided doses of G-CSF daily (2 x 7 mug/kg/day) as group II (n = 50). Both groups were divided into subgroups according to their BMI as group a (BMI 25 kg/m(2)). Two groups were similar in terms of BMI, gender, and disease characteristics. All patients have received G-CSF as a single or two divided doses subcutaneously and aphereses have been done on the 5th day. No significant difference in numbers of CD34(+) cells between groups Ia and Ib, groups IIa and IIb, and groups Ia and IIa was found. On the other hand, the mean ratio and the number of CD34(+) cells in group Ib were significantly higher than those of group IIb (0.58 +/- 0.06% vs. 0.37 +/- 0.26%, P = 0.01 and 3.67 +/- 0.65 x 10(4)/kg/ml vs. 1.92 +/- 0.37 x 10(4)/kg/ml, P= 0.02). In conclusion, in patients with BMI >25 kg/m(2), once daily G-CSF compared to split dose administration induces a greater number of CD34(+) stem cell mobilization, which suggests the presence of a different pharmacokinetics in obese patients., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)