Health and Art (HEART): Integrating Science and Art to Fight COVID-19.

Netting individuals separated from each other by vast distances; the present condition of COVID-19 needs art and its extraordinary capacity to connect human beings and integrate scientific disciplines. We can predict that the COVID-19 pandemic would leave the mind lonely and vulnerable to diseases, for, on the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic and related problems, in particular social isolation, are itself stressor. On the other hand, studies confirm the potential of COVID-19 to involve the central nervous system by affecting the immune system, either directly or indirectly. The COVID-19 condition, thus, calls for a necessary compensation of loneliness to reduce the psychological impact of the pandemic. Not only art can fulfill this purpose by meeting social affiliation needs, but also its related creativity is a definite achievement of the performer while acting as a motivation facilitator of creation for the observer. Besides, artworks that illustrate effective hygiene behaviors and physical distancing in an easy-to-understand manner could help health information systems to control the spread of COVID-19. The integration of art with biomedical science applied for simulation of the infected population, lung imaging data, and the viral surface has been useful for prediction of the spread of disease and earlier diagnosis of COVID-19 by imaging techniques and might be a contributor to drug discovery for COVID-19. Also, arts admirably influence the immunoemotional regulatory system so that not only would it enable humanity to tolerate quarantine but also enhance antiviral immunity. More interestingly, the effects of dance have been observed in children, elderly, healthcare workers, and pregnant women, which have been of special attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. In summary, arts provide us powerful tools for tolerating the quarantine time and enhancing the immune system, educating behavioral tips for hygiene practices and physical distancing and in psychosocial care of vulnerable populations during the pandemic.

Cost-utility analysis of Pembrolizumab compared to other alternative immunotherapy and chemotherapy treatments for patients with advanced melanoma in Iran.

OBJECTIVES: Immunotherapy drugs like Pembrolizumab have shown significant improvements in treatment outcomes of advanced melanoma. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-utility of Pembrolizumab compared to other immunotherapy and chemotherapy drugs in the first-line treatment of advanced melanoma in Iran. METHODS: A partitioned-survival model, based on data from a recent randomized phase 3 study (KEYNOTE-006) and recent meta-analysis, was used to divide Overall survival (OS) time into Progression-free survival (PFS) and post-progression survival for Pembrolizumab, Nivolumab, Ipilimumab, Dacarbazine, Temozolomide, Carboplatin, and Paclitaxel combination. Quality Life Years (QALY) and Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER) were considered as the final outcome. RESULTS: The ICER of Ipilimumab, Nivolumab, Nivolumab & Ipilimumab, and Pembrolizumab compared to Temozolomide was calculated as $40,365.53, $19,591.13, $24,578, and $47,324.2 per QALY, respectively. Scenario analysis demonstrated if the price of one vial of Nivolumab 100 is $90.51, each vial of Pembrolizumab is $119.20, and each vial of Ipilimumab is $101.54, they will be cost-effective in Iran. CONCLUSION: None of the immunotherapy drugs studied were found to be cost-effective when considering the cost-effectiveness threshold of $3,532. Therefore, a cost reduction of more than 90% in the prices of immunotherapy drugs would be necessary for them to be considered cost-effective in Iran.