Experts call for urgent action as AMR crisis deepens in oncology care
“Antimicrobial resistance is emerging as an oncologic risk factor. We must integrate infection control and antibiotic stewardship into every level of cancer care”
Health experts have called for urgent, coordinated actions to address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in cancer care. They warned that drug-resistant infections are undermining treatment success and survival rates among cancer patients worldwide
The warning is contained in a newly released white paper titled “How Antimicrobial Resistance Threatens Cancer Care: Uncovering a Growing Crisis”.
This was jointly published by AMR Insights and Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) and a copy made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). NAN reports that the paper was developed following an international roundtable held on June 25, 2025, that brought together leading oncologists, microbiologists, and infectious disease experts worldwide.
The authors, including Dr. Vikas Gupta, Dr. Debbie Goff, Dr. Margaret Lubwama, Dr. Afreenish Amir and Ms. Diane Flayhart, presented compelling data from multicentre studies published in The Lancet Oncology and Cancer Medicine.
The findings show that AMR disproportionately affects cancer patients due to their weakened immune systems and frequent hospital exposure.
Gupta, Senior Director of Clinical Affairs at Q-linea and lead author of several AMR studies, said the findings revealed that resistance rates were up to three times higher among cancer patients, particularly in outpatient settings.
“Antimicrobial resistance is emerging as an oncologic risk factor. We must integrate infection control and antibiotic stewardship into every level of cancer care,” he said.
The studies also found that gram-negative bacteria, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) and fluoroquinolone-resistant organisms are among the leading causes of drug-resistant infections in oncology wards.
Such infections, the experts said, contributed to longer hospital stays, higher treatment costs and increased mortality rates. Debbie Goff, an infectious disease pharmacist and global AMR stewardship expert, called for “cancer-unit-specific antibiograms”.
He also called for rapid diagnostic testing to guide precise antibiotic use, particularly in ambulatory cancer care, where empiric prescriptions were most common.
From Uganda, Dr. Margaret Lubwama, Makerere University warned that sub-Saharan Africa faces an even more severe challenge.
Lubwama said more than 80 per cent of E. coli isolates from oncology patients in the region are resistant to first-line antibiotics, adding that resistant organisms were found even on hospital surfaces.
She recommended environmental surveillance, genomic sequencing and co-designed infection prevention protocols as urgent steps to curb the spread of resistant pathogens in cancer facilities.
Similarly, Pakistani microbiologist Dr. Afreenish Amir stressed the need to integrate microbiological, clinical, and policy data to improve empirical treatment guidelines, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
The roundtable moderator, Ms. Diane Flayhart, BD’s Director of Global Public Health, described the dialogue as a “global call to action” to safeguard cancer care from the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance.
“Protecting cancer patients from drug-resistant infections requires collaboration among oncologists, microbiologists, policymakers, and diagnostic innovators,” she said.
The white paper recommended that health systems establish oncology-specific AMR surveillance, implement antibiotic stewardship programmes and ensure that cancer control strategies explicitly address the AMR threat.
Experts also urged policymakers to align national AMR action plans with cancer care objectives to protect vulnerable patients, particularly those undergoing chemotherapy or bone marrow transplants.
“If unaddressed, antimicrobial resistance could erase years of progress in cancer survival and patient care,” the paper warned.
NAN reports that the roundtable and publication marked a significant step toward bridging the gap between oncology and infectious disease disciplines, stating that cancer care can no longer be separated from global AMR control efforts.
NAN, reports that Antimicrobial resistance where bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve to resist the medicines used to treat them, is already undermining routine medical procedures, from surgeries and childbirth to cancer care and organ transplants.
We need an adaptive, multi-pronged approach involving many stakeholders, working locally, nationally and globally, to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.
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