Prof. Dame Sally Davies in discussion with Dr. Cary Adams (Let’s Talk Cancer)

[Originally published by the Union for International Cancer Control]

“I think antibiotics and other antimicrobials, antifungals are terrifically important to cancer patients. After all, we know that as many as 1 in 5 cancer patients undergoing treatment are hospitalised with an infection. So antibiotics and other antimicrobials are their main line of defence. Pneumonia and sepsis - that's bacterial infection of the blood - are the most frequent cause of admission to intensive care for cancer patients, and it's estimated that at least 8.5% of cancer deaths are due to severe sepsis. So, you know, if we don't protect our antibiotics and antifungals and everything, we're not protecting our patients.

“And we have surveys showing that 95% of oncologists worry about the impact of superbugs on the future of cancer treatments. Nearly half of those surveyed said they think chemotherapy will at some point become unviable. And it's not that far away if we don't sort this out. So I don't want people to take antibiotics if they don't need them so they are available for those like cancer patients when they do need them.” – Prof. Dame Sally Davies

Prof. Dame Sally Davies (Founder and Chair, the Trinity Challenge) joined Dr. Cary Adams (CEO, Union for International Cancer Control) to discuss the relationship between antimicrobial resistance and cancer care in an episode of the Let’s Talk Cancer podcast from the Union for Internation Cancer Control.

You can listen to the conversation here.