IARC contributes to new report on how antimicrobial resistance affects cancer care outcomes

Dr Zisis Kozlakidis, Head of Laboratory Support, Biobanking, and Services at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has contributed to a new report on antimicrobial resistance as it relates to cancer care, The challenge for the cancer control community, published by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). As many as one in five cancer patients undergoing treatment are hospitalized with an infection, and antibiotics are the main line of defence.

Dr Kozlakidis highlights several key concerns regarding antimicrobial resistance in patients with cancer, who are at a higher risk of acquiring infections because of lowered immune responses associated with, for example, certain blood cancers, and/or resulting from treatment, such as chemotherapy.

Ensuring access to timely and appropriate cancer treatment includes access to antimicrobials to address infections. Resource-restricted settings face greater difficulties in providing this level of care because clinical microbiology laboratories may exist in isolated pockets of excellence, or be altogether absent, and be located in different areas to cancer centres. Patients in these settings, therefore, suffer from a double bottleneck in terms of timely diagnosis both for cancer types and for microbial pathogens.

Action to address antimicrobial resistance for better cancer care outcomes is urgently needed. IARC, through the Low- and Middle-Income Countries Biobank and Cohort Building Network (BCNet), promotes the education and standardization of laboratory and biobanking practices in resource-restricted settings, skills that are directly relevant to clinical laboratory activities of any scale, and through greater collaborations of existing vertical surveillance structures.

Read the report

Visit the BCNet website