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Corticosteroids Hinder Immunotherapy Outcomes in Lung Cancer

Corticosteroids are commonly used to manage cancer symptoms. However, a study found the use of corticosteroids at the start of treatment was associated with shorter survival for people given immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study, published in Cancer Research Communications, analyzed the health records of 277 people with NSCLC who received immune checkpoint inhibitors between 2013 and 2023 at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, or USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. This included 21 people who took steroids to manage conditions, such as brain metastases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, before starting immunotherapy. Those taking steroids progressed sooner and had shorter average overall survival than those who did not receive steroids, HealthDay reported. Additionally, researchers tracked the expression of a receptor on T cells in the blood believed to indicate reaction to treatment. They found the frequency of this biomarker was much lower in people who received steroids, and their test scores did not correlate with treatment responses, making it more difficult to track the cancer using blood tests. “We know that steroids will continue to play an important role in lung cancer care, but it is important to understand their potential limitations,” study author Fumito Ito, an oncologist and immunologist at USC Norris Cancer Center, told HealthDay. “Each patient should talk to their oncologist to make sure they have the best possible care plan tailored to their specific needs.”

Colorectal Cancer Linked to Sexual Health Side Effects

Women diagnosed with colorectal cancer may be at risk for sexual side effects, a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found. Researchers used health data from 25,402 women with colorectal cancer and a control group of 254,020 women without colorectal cancer in British Columbia, Canada. They found women with colorectal cancer had a 67% higher risk for dyspareunia, a term for pain during or after sex, than their peers. They also had nearly twice the risk for endometriosis and three times the risk for pelvic inflammatory disease. Healio reported that some side effects were more pronounced in younger women, with those diagnosed before age 40 having a 90% higher chance of pain during sex. For Mary A. De Vera, a study author and a pharmacoepidemiologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, this research held extra significance since she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 36. “As a health researcher, I had the knowledge and confidence to advocate for discussions about sexual and reproductive health with my care team. However, in the patient communities I was part of, I saw many others who were not receiving the information, support or care they needed in these areas,” De Vera said.

Cancer Patients Have Higher Incidence of Treatment-resistant Bacterial Infections

Infections are a leading cause of death in people with cancer, whose immune responses can be weakened by the cancer itself or by treatment. A study in Lancet Oncology found many people with cancer have a significant number of pathogens that have grown resistant to antibiotics. To assess the prevalence of treatment-resistant pathogens in cancer patients, researchers analyzed pathogens collected from blood, urine and other samples from over 955,000 people with and without cancer treated at 198 outpatient health centers in the U.S. The analysis found people with cancer were more likely to have at least one treatment-resistant pathogen than people who did not have cancer. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing challenge among cancer patients, researchers wrote. “Administering cancer treatment safely fundamentally depends on having antibiotics available. If there is an increase in incidence or prevalence of antimicrobial resistance organisms, that is a potential threat to how effectively we can manage patients in the future,” Yehoda M. Martei, a study author and a hematologist-oncologist at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, said in an article in Healio. She stressed the need for further drug development to manage infections when existing treatments are no longer effective.