Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases. Increasing patients’ awareness and providing easier access to public information result in greater interest in alternative anticancer or unproven supportive therapies. Fear of cancer and limited trust in the treating physician are also important reasons leading patients to seek these methods. Trust and good communication are essential to achieving truthful collaboration between physicians and patients. Given the popularity of CAM, better knowledge about these alternative practices may help oncologists discuss this issue with their patients. This article objectively reviews the most common unconventional therapies used by cancer patients.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide and the fifth leading cause of cancer death. In 2020, there were 2.3 million new cases, and 685,000 women died from it. Breast cancer among young women under 40 years of age accounts for 5% to 10% of all cases of this cancer. The greater availability of multi-gene sequence analysis by next-generation sequencing has improved diagnosis and, consequently, the possibility of using appropriate therapeutic approaches in BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers. Treatment of young breast cancer patients affects their reproductive potential by reducing ovarian reserve. It can lead to reversible or permanent premature menopause, decreased libido, and other symptoms of sex hormone deficiency. This requires that, in addition to oncological treatment, patients are offered genetic counseling, oncofertility, psychological assistance, and sexological counseling. Given the number of BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers among young breast cancer patients, but also thanks to growing public awareness, among their healthy family members planning offspring, the possibility of benefiting from preimplantation testing and performing cancer-risk-reduction procedures: RRM (risk-reducing mastectomy) and RRSO (risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy) significantly increase the chance of a genetically burdened person living a healthy life and giving birth to a child not burdened by the parent’s germline mutation. The goal of this paper is to show methods and examples of fertility counselling for BRCA1/2 gene mutation carriers, including both patients already affected by cancer and healthy individuals.

Około 1 mln migrantów przebywa obecnie w Polsce, głównie są to pracownicy z Ukrainy. Restrykcje w przekroczeniu granic Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w dobie pandemii COVID- 19 oraz perspektywa recesji gospodarczej stały się czynnikami motywującymi do opuszczenia polskiego rynku pracy przez pracowników z Ukrainy. Ograniczenie handlu i usług w wielu polskich przedsiębiorstwach wymusiło redukcję personelu w obawie przed bankructwem. Przedsiębiorcy, którzy zwolnili swoich pracowników nie czekając na wsparcie rządu w postaci „tarczy antykryzysowej", postawili najczęściej na osoby o najniższym stażu pracy, niemające umów o pracę i pochodzące z mniejszości narodowych. Skutki gospodarcze i polityczne takich decyzji odczuje w dłuższej perspektywie cały rynek pracy. Analiza migracji ukraińskich pracowników w Polsce po wybuchu epidemii COVID-19 pozwoli ocenić skalę tej migracji i podjąć próbę odpowiedzi na pytanie: Czy polscy przedsiębiorcy działają w duchu interesu publicznego, czy jednak uprzedzeń wobec obcej siły roboczej? Badanie ma na celu analizę reakcji służb i instytucji publicznych na migracje spowodowane rozprzestrzenianiem się wirusa SARS-CoV-2. Dane wskazują, że nie radziły sobie one z wydaniem nowych kart pobytu, zezwoleń na pracę. Wystąpiły komplikacje związane z przekraczaniem granicy. Wszystko to świadczy o słabym przygotowaniu służb granicznych do migracji o tak dużej skali. Ponadto doszło do wzrostu liczby zwolnień obywateli Ukrainy w czasie trwania pandemii. Zauważono również wystąpienie przejawów rasizmu w społeczeństwie. W efekcie nasiliła się migracja.

Background. The initial approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marked a milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The increased public debate about the vaccine development process and vaccine side effects has activated the anti-vaccine community, which has begun to spread conspiracy theories about vaccine safety. Objectives. Our study is the first to investigate the awareness of Polish patients suffering from various chronic diseases, mainly cancer, about vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. Materials and methods. An anonymous survey was made available from November 2020 to February 2021 to representatives of patient organizations through social media (Facebook) and to patients in the Chemotherapy Department of the Clinical Hospital in Poznan. The survey was completed by 836 patients. The majority of the survey respondents had cancer (77%, n = 644), and almost 1/5 of the respondents indicated hypertension (15.7%, n = 131) as well as depression and/or anxiety disorders (11.1%, n = 93). Results. Less than half of the respondents (43.5%, n = 364) believed that SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were safe (40.4%, n = 260, among cancer patients; 53.9%, n = 104, among patients with other medical conditions). More than half of the respondents (60.5%, n = 506) intended to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (58.8%, n = 378, among cancer patients; 66.3%, n = 128, among patients with other medical conditions). Fear of vaccine complications and lack of belief in vaccine effectiveness were prevalent among both cancer patients and patients with other medical conditions. Conclusions. The vast majority of cancer and medical patients wanted to be vaccinated against COVID-19. More than half of the respondents did not believe that the COVID-19 vaccine would be safe for them. Education of cancer and medical patients on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, as well as the use of additional protective measures against infection, is an extremely important element of prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The clinical research market of the European Union (EU) countries of Central and Eastern Europe has been experiencing a dynamic growth of clinical trials in the last 10 years. Oncology and cardiology are the areas where the most clinical trials are conducted. Aim: This study aims to analyze the clinical research market including countries, medical fields and trial phases in the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The comparative analysis of countries is divided into 5-year periods. Material and methods: Clinical research market analysis was carried out in 11 EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. In searching for the number of clinical trials, the ClinicalTrials.gov database was used. Results and discussion: From 2000 to 2019, 6497 clinical trials were conducted in the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe. There were 1840 clinical trials registered in Poland, 1188 in Czechia, and 1005 in Hungary. The most clinical trials were registered in the field of oncology (22%), followed by cardiology (16%) and neurology (12%). Phase III trials representing as much as 60% (n = 2854) of all conducted medical experiments. The highest increase in the number of clinical trials in the last two 5-year periods (2010–2014 and 2015–2019) was recorded in Estonia, at 471%. Conclusions: There has been a significant increase in the number of clinical phase III trials in the EU countries of Central and Eastern Europe, mainly in Poland, Czechia, and Hungary.

DOI: 10.20452/pamw.15669, Published online: November 03, 2020, Authors: Joanna Kufel-Grabowska, Mikołaj Bartoszkiewicz, Maria Litwiniuk