The role of sex and gender in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer: the 6th ICAPEM Annual Symposium.

The incidence and mortality of lung cancer in women are rising, with both increasing by 124% between 2003 and 2019. The main risk factor for lung cancer is tobacco use, but indoor radon gas exposure is one of the leading causes in nonsmokers. The most recent evidence demonstrates that multiple factors can make women more susceptible to harm from these risk factors or carcinogens. For this consensus statement, the Association for Lung Cancer Research in Women (ICAPEM) invited a group of lung cancer experts to perform a detailed gender-based analysis of lung cancer. Clinically, female patients have different lung cancer profiles, and most actionable driver alterations are more prevalent in women, particularly in never-smokers. Additionally, the impact of certain therapies seems to be different. In the future, it will be necessary to carry out specific studies to improve the understanding of the role of certain biomarkers and gender in the prognosis and evolution of lung cancer.

The Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Approach and Quality of Care.

The core function of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) is to bring together a group of healthcare professionals from different fields in order to determine patients' treatment plan. Most of head and neck cancer (HNC) units are currently led by MDTs that at least include ENT and maxillofacial surgeons, radiation and medical oncologists. HNC often compromise relevant structures of the upper aerodigestive tract involving functions such as speech, swallowing and breathing, among others. The impairment of these functions can significantly impact patients' quality of life and psychosocial status, and highlights the crucial role of specialized nurses, dietitians, psycho-oncologists, social workers, and onco-geriatricians, among others. Hence, these professionals should be integrated in HNC MDTs. In addition, involving translational research teams should also be considered, as it will help reducing the existing gap between basic research and the daily clinical practice. The aim of this comprehensive review is to assess the role of the different supportive disciplines integrated in an MDT and how they help providing a better care to HNC patients during diagnosis, treatment and follow up.

Approaching psychosocial complexity in patients with cancer. / Abordaje de la complejidad psicosocial en pacientes con cáncer.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To assess emotional distress and complexity of patients referred to the Psychosocial Committee. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A pre-post single group study was performed in a sample of oncological patients. From the 144 patients referred to the committee, 27 were attended by psychosocial specialists. The patients' levels of emotional distress and psychosocial complexity were reviewed one month later. RESULTS: After having been attended according to the committee's indications, the patients showed significant decreases in emotional distress. The initial mean of 8 points on the emotional distress scale decreased to 5.81 points after having been referred to the specialist. This decline was also observed in psychosocial complexity. Before attendance, 70.4% patients showed high levels of complexity, and 7.4% showed low levels. After attendance, the percentages of patients with high levels of psychosocial complexity reduced to 48.1% and patients with low complexity increased to 22.2%. CONCLUSIONS: The committee provides an instrument to refer patients who show high levels of psychosocial complexity and require preferential and multidisciplinary attention. The committee optimizes resources due to its efficiency in resolving complex cases.

[Psychological adjustment and prevalence of psychiatric disorders in cancer patients]. / Adaptación psicológica y prevalencia de trastornos mentales en pacientes con cáncer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and the predictors of mental disorders in cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHOD: 400 ambulatory cancer patients were included in the study. All the patients with a score of 14 or higher in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) received a structured clinical interview (SCID-I. DSMIV) with the objective of determining the prevalence of mental disorders. RESULTS: 24% cancer patients had criteria for a mental disorder. The predictors of mental disorders were radiotherapy treatment, psychopharmacological treatment and pain. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the need to assess the possible anxious and depressive symptoms during cancer treatment and follow up. The predictors found can help to detect possible psychiatric cases in cancer patients.

El sentido de la vida como recurso espiritual para el cuidado en oncología / The meaning of life as spiritual resource for care in oncology

Introducción: Descubrir el sentido de la vida es una de las necesidades espirituales del ser humano, y funciona como un recurso interior para el enfrentamiento de las adversidades de una forma más positiva. Es considerado el motor fundamental para la existencia, ya que quién tiene por qué vivir puede soportar cualquier cómo hacerlo. Una de las enfermedades que más produce síntomas espirituales de pérdida del sentido de la vida es el cáncer. Objetivo: Reflexionar sobre el sentido de la vida como un recurso espiritual de cuidado al paciente con enfermedad oncológica y para el profesional de enfermería que lo atiende. Métodos: Estudio de análisis crítico, descriptivo y reflexivo, donde se consideraron libros de texto, artículos sobre el sentido de la vida y una revisión de la literatura que fue realizada en las bases de datos Medline, Bdenf y Lilacs a través de la Biblioteca Virtual en Salud BVS Brasil, mediante las siguientes palabras clave en inglés y operadores boléanos, para ampliar los resultados: ¨Cancer¨ AND ¨Nursing care¨ OR ¨Care¨ AND ¨Spirituality¨ AND ¨Meaning of Life¨. Fueron seleccionados los artículos originales y de revisión, nacionales e internacionales, publicados entre 2013 y 2016. Conclusión: El sentido de la vida funciona para el paciente como un mecanismo de protección frente a la enfermedad, y proporciona una mejor sensación de bienestar espiritual y una mejor calidad de vida. Ya para los profesionales de la enfermería actúa como un recurso de cuidado espiritual para sí mismo, posibilita una mejor sensación de bienestar y adecuación a su función(AU)

Introduction: Discovering the meaning of life is one of the spiritual needs of the human being and functions as an internal resource for facing up to the adversities in a more positive way. It is considered as the fundamental driving force for human existence, since the person having reasons to be alive is able to endure hardship. One of the diseases causing spiritual symptoms of the loss of the meaning of life is cancer. Objective: To make a reflection on the meaning of life o spiritual resource for care of oncological patient and for the nursing professional taking care of him/her. Methods: Critical, descriptive and reflective study that analyzed textbooks, articles on the meaning of life and literture review and conducted in Medline, Bdef and Lilacs databases through the Virtual Library of Health in Brazil by using the following keywords in English and the Boolean operators to increase the results. Cancer AND "Nursing care" OR "Care" AND "Spirituality" AND "Meaning of Life". National and international original and review articles, which had been published from 2013 to 2016, were selected. Conclusions: The meaning of life works as a protective mechanism against disease in the patient and provides better perception of spiritual wellbeing and better queality of life. Regarding the nursing professionals, it acts as a resource of spiritual care for themselves, and makes better sensation of wellbeing and adaptation to their function possible(AU)