In this short video, Nina Buchan introduces the November 2020 issue of Specialised Medicine.
Welcome to the November 2020 issue of Specialised Medicine. As the country endures the second wave of COVID-19, we focus on services struggling to maintain the treatment of patients with other health conditions. In this issue, Roger Taylor and Melanie Kay explain why proton beam therapy should be considered a new paradigm in radiotherapy. Vivek Misra and Mike Braun explore the updated NICE Guideline 151 on colorectal cancer, and Jeremy Hooper, James Roach, and Johnny Skillicorn‑Aston and report on a hepatitis C elimination programme in Manchester.
Also in this issue, we bring you highlights from the UK Oncology Forum Big COVID/Cancer Debate, which discussed the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients and services, and the actions necessary to tackle the backlog of patients requiring treatment for cancer. In addition, Alastair Whitington reports from the Westminster Health Forum conference on cancer care in England, and Martin Bradley discusses eculizumab and rituximab for rare complications of blood transfusion in Medicines Corner.
Finally, in the first of our new Oncology Corner series, Alastair Whitington interviews David Cunningham, Chair of the Association of Cancer Physicians (ACP), to determine the impact of COVID-19 on cancer services and clinical research. This interview marks the launch of a new partnership between Specialised Medicine and the ACP that we hope will enable increased sharing of innovation and best practice in cancer for the benefit of both the ACP’s membership of consultant medical oncologists and trainees and UK oncology as a whole.