Antibiotic-resistant superbugs could leave chemotherapy ineffective within the next decade, oncologists warn
- British doctors have seen a rise in superbug infections among cancer patients
- 65,000 patients are predicted to get a drug-resistant infection in a decade
- Half of surveyed oncologists believe chemotherapy could be wiped out
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs could render chemotherapy ineffective within the next decade, experts have warned.
British oncologists have seen a rise in superbug infections among cancer patients in the past year alone, some of which are deadly.
A predicted 65,000 cancer patients could develop potentially life-threatening drug-resistant infections after surgery in the next decade.
Cancer patients may be more vulnerable to emerging superbugs because their immune systems have been made weaker by treatment.
Therefore, routine medical interventions, such as chemotherapy and other surgeries, may become less safe to use – thereby ‘ineffective’ – because of the infection risk.
Half of oncologists surveyed fear strong cancer-killing chemotherapy drugs may be unviable within ten years.
Cancer patients are at risk of getting antibiotic resistant superbugs that could render chemotherapy ineffective in the future, oncologists have warned (stock, chemo treatment)
Bacteria can become resistant – known as a superbug – over time. This is accelerated by people taking incorrect doses of antibiotics or unnecessarily.
The survey of oncologists was carried out by the Longitude Prize, which was set up to develop a diagnostic test which can identify which antibiotics are needed for patients on the spot, removing guess work.
One in four oncologists in the UK have seen an increase in drug-resistant infections in the last year, The Times reported.
A survey of 100 cancer doctors found that 95 per cent were worried about the rise of superbugs in their patients.
Some 46 per cent of those surveyed said they believed drug-resistant infections could make chemotherapy unviable.
The average cancer doctor in the survey had 23 per cent of their patients develop an infection during treatment.
More than a third required surgery for their cancer, with five per cent of those patients developing a drug-resistant infection.
Infections become drug-resistant when the microbes that cause them adapt and change over time, becoming stronger and able to resist the drugs designed to kill them.
Specialists estimate around 70 per cent of bacteria that can cause infection are already resistant to at least one antibiotic that is commonly used to treat them.
Bugs are able to adapt partly because antibiotics have been doled out unnecessarily for decades, helping bugs learn how antibiotics work.
Cancer patients are a prime example – they are flooded with drugs as a precaution while doctors wait for slow diagnosis results.
As drug-resistant infections are becoming more common, modern medicines are at risk of failing, such as antibiotics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously warned if nothing is done the world is heading for a ‘post-antibiotic’ era.
Other drugs, such as those for chemotherapy, or interventions such as organ transplants may become too risky because it leaves patients with a compromised immune system.
If resistance to bacteria keeps rising, the risk of taking some forms of chemotherapy may be so high that some patients may hesitate to take the treatment.
Because chemotherapy is the first line of treatment for many cancers, it is a major concern that it could one day become less valuable.
Antimicrobial resistance kills around 700,000 a year. But experts say predict the death toll could reach ten million a year globally within the next 30 years.