Hem/Onc Roundup: Vitamin D Deficiency Raises COVID-19 Risk in Cancer Patients

This week on DocWire, editors spoke with Dr. Aaron Galaznik, about his study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting which assessed the impact of Vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 diagnosis in patients with breast or prostate cancer. “When we looked at the actual rates of COVID in these populations for patients who were or were not diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, we did in fact see that there was an association with a higher rate of COVID infection in those patients with vitamin D deficiency,” said Dr. Galaznik.

https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/hem-onc-picks/asco-assessment-of-vitamin-d-deficiency-and-covid-19-in-cancer-patients/

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Study Finds Oncologists Frequently Miss Opportunities for End-of-Life Care Discussions

In other news, a study found that opportunities for end-of-life (EOL) care discussions for patients with cancer are frequently missed by oncologists. Five percent of patient visits with oncologists resulted in EOL care discussions, and 38% of visits included missed opportunities to discuss EOL-related topics. “Successful EOL conversations included anticipatory guidance about trade-offs of quality of life and symptom burden; these topics may be less uncomfortable for oncologists to broach and may be useful strategies for starting these conversations,” wrote the authors.

https://www.docwirenews.com/docwire-pick/study-finds-oncologists-frequently-miss-opportunities-for-end-of-life-care-discussions/

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Lack of Screening May Contribute to Higher Risk of Colorectal Cancer for Black People

Lack of screening increases risk of colorectal cancer for Black patients, according to a new study of veterans. The researchers observed in the overall population that Black veterans had a higher risk of colorectal cancer. However, in a subgroup of people who got routine screenings, the risk was equal for Black patients and white patients.

https://www.docwirenews.com/hematology-oncology/lack-of-screen-may-contribute-to-higher-risk-of-colorectal-cancer-for-black-people/

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Pain-Reported Pain Severity Is Associated with Poor Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma

In patients with multiple myeloma, higher patient-rated pain severity was found to be significantly associated with poorer health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Patient self-reported pain severity was significantly negatively correlated with HRQOL assessment scores. From no pain to severe pain, mean overall scores decreased from 70.2 to 33.3, and increasing pain severity was associated with decreases in physical, social, emotional, and role subscores.

https://www.docwirenews.com/urban-health-today/urban-health-multiple-myeloma-knowledge-hub/uh-mm-knowledge-hub-picks/pain-reported-pain-severity-is-associated-with-poor-outcomes-in-multiple-myeloma/