Improving Oncology Worldwide

This open access book describes strategies and experiences of highly skilled professionals in improving oncology care worldwide. The book is structured into three main sections with several chapters each, reflecting the authors' individual, real-life experiences. It explores ways to improve oncology education and scientific training, how to set up and run a clinical research facility ethically and efficiently in low- and middle-income settings, addressing the challenges that the workforce encounters in the real world. The main challenges of today’s oncologists seem to be the ever-growing patient care and administrative workload and the risk of burn-out. What are the best strategies to maintain a healthy work-life for the benefit of the patients, the physicians and society, taking into account the different needs, depending on factors like peace, social and gender equality? This book addresses oncologists all over the world and their allies throughout the associated industries to highlight the importance of shared and sustainable education, clinical research and global cancer care.

Cancer is a very aggressive disease and currently it has been considered a challenge to oncologists and cancer patients worldwide. Nowadays, several therapeutic strategies had improved toward last decades. Surgery is many times still the best curative treatment, mainly in early stage disease. However, Radiotherapy and chemotherapy acquired a main role in this scenario. Target therapies were introduced for medical oncology practice and are demonstrating a hallmark of a new era in cancer treatment. More recently, immunotherapy has been considered the novel cornerstone in cancer treatment. The 2nd edition of the International Manual of Oncology Practice (iMOP) emerged after the great success of the iMOP 1st edition as a reference for medical oncologists and medical residents in the field. In this edition, several chapters were revised and its addresses from the molecular issues of cancer sciences to the clinical practice in medical oncology. In addition, multiple choice questions and clinical cases were included in the main chapters in order to improve the reader learning. The book focuses systemic treatments in many areas of medical oncology, such as breast cancer, gastrointestinal, thoracic, urological oncology, head and neck tumors, bone tumors, sarcomas and palliative care. The topics herein discussed will provide the readers a step forward in the medical oncology practice understanding and give facilities for help in cancer patient treatments.

This book explains how telemedicine can offer solutions capable of improving the care and survival rates of cancer patients and can also help patients to live a normal life in spite of their condition. Different fields of application – community, hospital and home based – are examined, and detailed attention is paid to the use of tele-oncology in rural/extreme rural settings and in developing countries. The impact of new technologies and the opportunities afforded by the social web are both discussed. The concluding chapters consider eLearning in relation to cancer care and assess the scope for education to improve prevention. No medical condition can shatter people’s lives as cancer does today and the need to develop strategies to reduce the disease burden and improve quality of life is paramount. Readers will find this new volume in Springer’s TELe Health series to be a rich source of information on the important contribution that can be made by telemedicine in achieving these goals.

Cancer is a very aggressive disease and currently it has been considered a challenge to oncologists and cancer patients worldwide. Nowadays, several therapeutic strategies had improved toward last decades. Surgery is many times still the best curative treatment, mainly in early stage disease. However, Radiotherapy and chemotherapy acquired a main role in this scenario. Target therapies were introduced for medical oncology practice and are demonstrating a hallmark of a new era in cancer treatment. More recently, immunotherapy has been considered the novel cornerstone in cancer treatment. The 2nd edition of the International Manual of Oncology Practice (iMOP) emerged after the great success of the iMOP 1st edition as a reference for medical oncologists and medical residents in the field. In this edition, several chapters were revised and its addresses from the molecular issues of cancer sciences to the clinical practice in medical oncology. In addition, multiple choice questions and clinical cases were included in the main chapters in order to improve the reader learning. The book focuses systemic treatments in many areas of medical oncology, such as breast cancer, gastrointestinal, thoracic, urological oncology, head and neck tumors, bone tumors, sarcomas and palliative care. The topics herein discussed will provide the readers a step forward in the medical oncology practice understanding and give facilities for help in cancer patient treatments. .

This open access book provides a valuable resource for hospitals, institutions, and health authorities worldwide in their plans to set up and develop comprehensive cancer care centers. The development and implementation of a comprehensive cancer program allows for a systematic approach to evidence-based strategies of prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation. Comprehensive cancer programs also provide a nexus for the running of clinical trials and implementation of novel cancer therapies with the overall aim of optimizing comprehensive and holistic care of cancer patients and providing them with the best opportunity to improve quality of life and overall survival. This book's self-contained chapter format aims to reinforce the critical importance of comprehensive cancer care centers while providing a practical guide for the essential components needed to achieve them, such as operational considerations, guidelines for best clinical inpatient and outpatient care, and research and quality management structures. Intended to be wide-ranging and applicable at a global level for both high and low income countries, this book is also instructive for regions with limited resources. The Comprehensive Cancer Center: Development, Integration, and Implementation is an essential resource for oncology physicians including hematologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists, and oncology nurses as well as hospitals, health departments, university authorities, governments and legislators.

Cancer has become a leading cause of death and disability and a serious yet unforeseen challenge to health systems in low-and middle-income countries. A protracted and polarized cancer transition is under way and fuels a concentration of preventable risk, illness, suffering, impoverishment from ill health, and death among poor populations. Closing this cancer divide is an equity imperative. The world faces a huge, unperceived cost of failure to take action that requires an immediate and large-scale global response. Closing the Cancer Divide presents strategies for innovation in delivery, pricing, procurement, finance, knowledge-building, and leadership that can be scaled up by applying a diagonal approach to health system strengthening. The chapters provide evidence-based recommendations for developing programs, local and global policy-making, and prioritizing research. The cases and frameworks provide a guide for developing responses to the challenge of cancer and other chronic illnesses. The book summarizes results of the Global Task Force on Expanding Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries, a collaboration among leaders from the global health and cancer care communities worldwide, originally convened by Harvard University. It includes contributions from civil society, global and national policy-makers, patients and practitioners, and academics representing an array of fields.

The material presented in this book is at the cutting-edge of global oncology and provides highly illuminating examples, addresses frequently asked questions, and provides information and a reference for future work in global oncology care, research, education, and outreach.

Supportive Oncology, by Drs. Davis, Feyer, Ortner, and Zimmermann, is your practical guide to improving your patients‘ quality of life and overall outcomes by integrating palliative care principles into the scope of clinical oncologic practice at all points along their illness trajectories. A multidisciplinary editorial team, representing the dual perspectives of palliative medicine and oncology, offers expert guidance on how to effectively communicate diagnoses and prognoses with cancer patients and their families, set treatment goals, and manage symptoms through pharmacological therapies, as well as non-pharmacological therapies and counselling when appropriate. Integrate complementary palliative principles as early as possible after diagnosis with guidance from a multidisciplinary editorial team whose different perspectives and collaboration provide a well-balanced approach. Effectively communicate diagnoses and prognoses with cancer patients and their families, set treatment goals, and manage symptoms through pharmacological therapies, as well as non-pharmacological therapies and counseling when appropriate. Improve patients’ quality of life with the latest information on pain and symptom management including managing side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, rehabilitating and counselling long-term survivors, and managing tumor-related symptoms and other complications in the palliative care setting. Prescribe the most effective medications, manage toxicities, and deal with high symptom burdens.