New JNCCN study showcases how telehealth helps overcome geographic and resource gaps in cancer care globally
Older adults with cancer in Brazil showed better outcomes with telehealth in first-ever randomized trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment and management outside a high-income country.
2025-06-11
(Press-News.org) PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA [June 11, 2025] — New research in the June 2025 issue of JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that older people with cancer had better daily functioning, improved mood, stronger illness understanding, and a higher quality of life if they participated in a telehealth-based care program called Geriatric Assessment-Guided Intervention-Supportive Care (GAIN-S). GAIN-S’ supportive care services included personalized fitness training, nutritional support, psychiatric care, and psychosocial assistance, all delivered remotely.
The randomized clinical trial focused on 77 adults aged 65-and-older undergoing treatment for a metastatic solid tumor between June 2022 and July 2023 in Brazil. The care providers in the study were primarily located in high-population urban areas, while most patients lived in remote or underserved parts of the country. The patients who participated in the GAIN-S telehealth program demonstrated significant improvement in all measured areas after three months.
“Instead of requiring older patients to travel long distances for tailored and specialized care, we brought the expertise to them—ensuring equity in access regardless of geography,” said senior author William Dale, MD, PhD, City of Hope, a national U.S. cancer research and treatment organization headquartered in Los Angeles. “It was a win-win for patients, families, and providers, bringing this growing standard of care to many more people using the available resources in an efficient way.”
“This is especially important in countries with substantial geographic and resource gaps, like Brazil and remote areas in any country,” said lead author Cristiane Decat Bergerot, PhD, Oncoclinicas&Co of Sao Paulo. “By bringing supportive care approaches to patients at the beginning of their cancer care journey, we can significantly improve the experience, communication, and outcomes of patients’ lives.”
WhatsApp was used for scheduling appointments and obtaining informed consent for the GAIN-S group. This enabled the team to automatically encrypt messages and have the option to make them disappear after 24 hours for added security.
“Social media can be used for anything, including now Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and Management (CGAM),” commented Martine Extermann, MD, PhD, Moffitt Cancer Center, who was not involved with this research. “Randomized clinical trials have established CGAM as the standard of care approach for optimal outcomes in older patients with cancer and are recommended in the NCCN Guidelines® and others. But CGAM has long been considered a ‘niche’ activity limited to large academic cancer centers. An increasing number of studies show it can be implemented in a broader practice setting, and now in low- and middle-Income countries as well. Let us spread the benefits of it!”
Dr. Extermann wrote a full response to this study, which is also running in the June issue of JNCCN. To read the entire study “Telehealth Geriatric Assessment and Supportive Care Intervention (GAIN-S) Program: A Randomized Clinical Trial” and the corresponding “The Last Word” commentary, visit JNCCN.org.
# # #
About JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
More than 25,000 oncologists and other cancer care professionals across the United States read JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. This peer-reviewed, indexed medical journal provides the latest information about innovation in translational medicine, and scientific studies related to oncology health services research, including quality care and value, bioethics, comparative and cost effectiveness, public policy, and interventional research on supportive care and survivorship. JNCCN features updates on the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), review articles elaborating on guidelines recommendations, health services research, and case reports highlighting molecular insights in patient care. JNCCN is published by Harborside/BroadcastMed. Visit JNCCN.org. To inquire if you are eligible for a FREE subscription to JNCCN, visit NCCN.org/jnccn/subscribe. Follow JNCCN at x.com/JNCCN.
About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is marking 30 years as a not-for-profit alliance of leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to defining and advancing quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care and prevention so all people can live better lives. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) provide transparent, evidence-based, expert consensus-driven recommendations for cancer treatment, prevention, and supportive services; they are the recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer management and the most thorough and frequently-updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients® provide expert cancer treatment information to inform and empower patients and caregivers, through support from the NCCN Foundation®. NCCN also advances continuing education, global initiatives, policy, and research collaboration and publication in oncology. Visit NCCN.org for more information.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2025-06-11
Ischemic stroke exacts a heavy toll in death and disability worldwide. After ischemic stroke, the accumulation of pathobiomolecules in the brain extracellular space (ECS) will exacerbate neurological damage and cognitive impairment. “PBM has been demonstrated to improve cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models by accelerating molecular transportation in the brain ECS. This suggests that PBM may have a potential role in the accumulation of pathobiomolecules in the brain ECS following ischemic stroke.” said ...
2025-06-11
In the past 20 years, substantial progress has been made in the detection and stimulation technology of deep brain neural information; especially, the deep brain electrode array device has emerged in neuroscience research and clinical application. Primates possess a more developed central nervous system and a higher level of intelligence than rodents. Detecting and modulating deep brain activity in primates enhances our understanding of neural mechanisms, facilitates the study of major brain diseases, enables brain–computer interactions, and supports advancements in artificial intelligence. Traditional imaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging, positron ...
2025-06-11
Seagrasses are critical to coastal ecosystems – offering habitat, stabilizing the seafloor and buffering wave energy – but globally they’re increasingly under threat. Beginning in 2011, a series of intense algal blooms – fueled by pollution and nutrient overload – wiped out vast stretches of vital seagrass beds in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon (IRL).
In the wake of this collapse, the fast-growing green seaweed Caulerpa prolifera has spread across areas once dominated by native seagrass species like Halodule wrightii, filling in the ...
2025-06-11
Recent advances in robotic ultrasound systems have shown promise for improving diagnostic imaging consistency. However, maintaining stable contact force across dynamic physiological changes (e.g., breathing, tremors) without continuous sensor recalibration remains a critical hurdle. "By integrating a hybrid active-passive force control mechanism, our method decouples force regulation from real-time feedback dependencies while ensuring adaptability across patients," stated corresponding author Qingsong Xu, a professor at the University of Macau. The tripartite system combines (a) a passive constant-force mechanism (positive/negative stiffness ...
2025-06-11
Drinking a smoothie is a popular way to consume fruits and vegetables, many of which are rich in micronutrients called polyphenols. If this beverage is purchased at a store, it’s likely been pasteurized with heat or pressure to prevent harmful bacteria growth and extend shelf-life. Now, a preliminary study in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reports that processing smoothies with high heat could also make polyphenols easier for the gut microbiome to absorb.
Fruits and vegetables are key to a healthful human diet, ...
2025-06-11
Breathalyzers are a frequently used tool to measure the amount of ethanol in someone’s breath, which relates to their blood alcohol content. However, alcoholic beverages contaminated by methanol (sometimes called wood alcohol) are hard to identify and toxic if ingested. Researchers reporting in ACS Sensors have developed a prototype sensor that quickly and easily detects small amounts of methanol in breath — a step toward developing a “methanol breathalyzer” to efficiently diagnose poisonings.
Methanol and ethanol, despite being structurally similar, have vastly different effects on the body when ingested. Ethanol gives ...
2025-06-11
To treat bacterial infections, medical professionals prescribe antibiotics. But not all active medicine gets used up by the body. Some of it ends up in wastewater, where antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can develop. Now, to make a more efficient antibiotic treatment, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science modified penicillin, so that it’s activated only by green light. In early tests, the approach precisely controlled bacterial growth and improved survival outcomes for infected insects.
“Controlling drug activity with light will allow precise and safe treatment of localized infections,” says Wiktor Szymanski, a corresponding author of the study. “Moreover, ...
2025-06-11
The ghostly woman’s voice pipes through the speakers, covered in radio static but her message intact from beyond — “The birch canoe slid on the smooth planks.”
A secret message from the other side? A spectral insight?
No, something much spookier: Voice recordings captured, secretly, from the radio frequencies emitted by ubiquitous, cheap microphones in laptops and smart speakers. These unintentional signals pass, ghost-like, through walls, only to be captured by simple radio components and translated back to static-filled — but easily intelligible ...
2025-06-11
The molecules that form the foundation of life on Earth are as diverse as they are complex. Among these, carbohydrates play a vital role as energy sources and in structural functions, such as forming cell walls. One class of carbohydrates, β-1,2-glucans, consists of glucose chains and is found in bacteria. These molecules are involved in various important biological processes, such as bacterial infection and environmental adaptation. Despite their biological significance, β-1,2-glucans are rare, compared to cellulose and laminarin, and structurally complex, making them particularly difficult to ...
2025-06-11
Exercise has been recognized as an extremely effective tool to improve human health— it can have a preventative and even therapeutic effect on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. By promoting physical activity not only among athletes, but also among the general population, several non-communicable diseases can be prevented, eventually reducing the financial burden upon the healthcare system. However, the exact changes that occur at a molecular level due to different types of exercise have not been explored thoroughly. One reason ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] New JNCCN study showcases how telehealth helps overcome geographic and resource gaps in cancer care globally
Older adults with cancer in Brazil showed better outcomes with telehealth in first-ever randomized trial of comprehensive geriatric assessment and management outside a high-income country.
