Objectives Contact tracing and quarantine are common measures used in the management of infectious disease outbreaks. However, few studies have measured their impact on the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of those measures on reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a community setting. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Methods A retrospective cohort study of COVID-19 cases notified in Eastern Porto from March 1 st to April 30 th , 2020 was performed. Intervention and control cohorts were defined based on whether cases were subjected to contact tracing and quarantine measures before the laboratory confirmation of disease. The number of secondary cases per index case and the proportion of cases with subsequent secondary cases were the primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included the time from symptom onset to specimen collection and the number of close contacts. The analysis was stratified according to whether national lockdown measures had already been implemented. Results The intervention and control cohorts comprised 98 and 453 cases, respectively. No differences were observed concerning primary outcomes. The intervention group had a shorter time between symptom onset and specimen collection (median: 3 days, IQR 1-6, vs. median: 5 days, IQR 2-7, p-value=0.004) and fewer close contacts (median: 0, IQR 0-2, vs. median: 2, IQR 1-4, p-value<0.001). The stratified analysis returned similar results. Conclusion Local public health measures were effective in reducing the time between symptom onset and laboratory diagnosis and the number of close contacts per case. No effect was apparent on secondary case figures, suggesting that further measures may be required.

Background. SARS-CoV-2 infected cancer patients (CP) show worse outcomes compared with non-cancer patients (NCP). The humoral immune response (HIR) of CP against SARS-CoV-2 is not well characterized. To better understand it, we conducted a serological study of hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 CP. Materials and Methods. Unicentric, retrospective study enrolling adult SARS-CoV-2 patients admitted to a central hospital from March 15 to June 17, 2020, whose serum samples were quantified for anti-SARS-CoV-2 receptorbinding domain or spike protein immunoglobulin (Ig) M, G and A antibodies. The aims of the study were to assess the HIR to SARS-CoV-2, correlate it with different cancer types, stages and treatments, clarify the interplay between HIR of CP and clinical outcomes and to compare the HIR of SARS-CoV-2 CP and NCP. Results. We included 72 SARS-CoV-2 positive subjects (19 CP, 53 controls). About 90% of controls revealed a robust serological response. Among CP, a strong response was verified in 57.9% of them, with 42.1% showing a persistently weak response. Treatment with chemotherapy within 14 days before positivity was the only factor statistically shown to be associated with persistently weak serological responses among CP. No significant differences in outcomes were observed between CP with strong and weak responses. All IgG, IgM, IgA and total Ig antibody titers were significantly lower in CP when compared with NCP. Conclusions. A significant part of CP develops a proper HIR. Recent chemotherapy treatment may be associated with weak serological responses among CP. CP have a weaker SARS-CoV-2 antibody response compared with NCP. Implications for practice. Our results place the spotlight on cancer patients, particularly the ones actively treated with chemotherapy. These patients may potentially be more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection, being important to provide oncologists further theoretical support (with concrete examples and respective mechanistic correlations) for the decision of starting, maintaining or stopping antineoplastic treatments (particularly chemotherapy) not only on noninfected but also on infected cancer patients in accordance with cancer type, stage and prognosis, treatment agents, treatment setting and SARS-CoV-2 infection risks. The Oncologist ;9999:• •

Although the impact of circadian timing on immunotherapy has yet to be integrated into clinical practice, chronoimmunotherapy is an emerging and promising field as circadian oscillations are observed in immune cell numbers as well as the expression of immunotherapy targets, e.g., programmed cell death protein-1 and its ligand programmed death ligand 1. Concurrent retrospective studies suggest that morning infusions may lead to higher effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and kidney cancer. This paper discusses the results of a retrospective study (2016–2022) exploring the impact of infusion timing on the outcomes of all 73 patients with stage IV melanoma receiving immunotherapy at a particular medical center. While the median overall survival (OS) was 24.2 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.04–39.8), for a median follow-up of 15.3 months, our results show that having more than 75% of infusions in the afternoon results in shorter median OS (14.9 vs. 38.1 months; hazard ratio 0.45 [CI 0.23–0.86]; p < 0.01) with more expressive impacts on particular subgroups: women, older patients, and patients with a lower tumor burden at the outset of immunotherapy. Our findings highlight the potential benefits of follow-up validation in prospective and translational randomized studies.

No abstract

No abstract