Search

Purpose: Studies have shown that patients with cancer are more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than noncancer patients for symptom relief and hope. We aimed to evaluate factors of race, ethnic groups, and immigration status in attitude of patients with cancer in seeking out CAM., Patients and Methods: This is a prospective questionnaire study where information on demographics, cancer information, race/ethnicity, immigration duration, and psychosocial factors was correlated with the CAM use in a community cancer center located in the borough of Brooklyn, at New York City., Results: Among 658 patients, the prevalence of CAM use was 66.11%. CAM use was 71.98% in females and 54.34% in males ( P = .113 × 10 -4 ). Patients of African descent had higher CAM use (72.73%) than the White patients (63.53%; P = .0371). There was no difference of CAM use between the US born (68.77%) and the immigrants (63.98%, P = .199) as a whole; however, comparing with the US born (66.50%), Asian-born immigrants had lower CAM use (53.77%, P = .0161), whereas Latin-American born had a numerical trend toward higher CAM use (74.83%, P = .0608). The number of years of living in the United States was not associated with more CAM use. Prayer and spirituality was the most common CAM subtype used (25.91%). There was no difference in CAM use in the respective non-White ethnic groups whether they were US born or non-US born., Conclusion: In this cohort of patients with cancer enriched with immigration background, CAM use was the highest in African American patients. The use of CAM in the non-White patients was associated with their ethnic background, regardless whether they were US born or not. Cultural roots appeared to be a strong influencing factor for the usage of CAM.

Adoptive cell therapy with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T cells has proven effective for hematologic malignancies, but success in solid tumors has been impeded by poor intratumoral infiltration, exhaustion of effector cells from antigen burden, and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Results from recent clinical trials and preclinical studies lend promising evidence of locoregional approaches for CAR T cell delivery, priming the tumor microenvironment, and performing adjuvant therapies that sustain T cell activity. Interventional oncology is a subspeciality of interventional radiology where imaging guidance is used to perform percutaneous and catheter-directed procedures for localized, non-surgical therapy or interrogation of solid tumors. Interventional oncology provides unique synergies with immunotherapy, which has been well-studied to improve treatment efficacy while reducing toxicities associated with systemic treatment. Besides aiding in CAR T cell delivery, priming, or the stimulation of the tumor microenvironment to promote effector survival and function, interventional oncology can also aid in the monitoring of treatment response through selective, multiplex tumor sampling and catheter-based venous sampling. This review presents an overview of interventional oncology, its various procedures, and its potential for advancing CAR T cell immunotherapy of solid tumors., Competing Interests: P.S.A. has received research funding from ATARA Biotherapeutics, has served on the Scientific Advisory Board or as consultant to ATARA Biotherapeutics, Bayer, Carisma Therapeutics, Imugene, ImmPACT Bio, and Takeda Therapeutics, and has patents, royalties, and intellectual property on mesothelin-targeted CARs and T cell therapies, which have been licensed to ATARA Biotherapeutics, as well as methods for the detection of cancer cells using virus, and pending patent applications on T cell therapies. S.B.S is a consultant to BTG, Johnson & Johnson, XACT, Adegro, and Medtronic. S.B.S. has funding support from GE Healthcare and Angiodynamics and holds stock in Aperture Medical. G.S. has received consulting fees from Farapulse and Intuitive Surgical and holds stock options in Aperture Medical. All other authors declare no competing interests. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) has licensed intellectual property related to mesothelin-targeted CARs and T cell therapies to ATARA Biotherapeutics and has associated financial interests., (© 2022 The Authors.)