Health experts have called for urgent, coordinated action to tackle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in cancer care, warning that drug-resistant infections are undermining treatment success and survival rates among cancer patients globally.
The warning was contained in a newly released white paper titled “How Antimicrobial Resistance Threatens Cancer Care: Uncovering a Growing Crisis,” jointly published by AMR Insights and Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD). A copy of the report was made available to journalists on Saturday.
The paper was developed following an international roundtable held on June 25, 2025, which brought together leading oncologists, microbiologists, and infectious disease experts from around the world.
The authors — including Dr. Vikas Gupta, Dr. Debbie Goff, Dr. Margaret Lubwama, Dr. Afreenish Amir, and Ms. Diane Flayhart — presented data from multi-centre 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.
Dr. Gupta, Senior Director of Clinical Affairs at Q-linea and lead author of several AMR studies, said 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,” Gupta said.
The studies also revealed 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, experts warned, contribute to longer hospital stays, higher treatment costs, and increased mortality rates.
Dr. Debbie Goff, an infectious disease pharmacist and global AMR stewardship expert, called for “cancer-unit-specific antibiograms” and rapid diagnostic testing to guide more precise antibiotic use, particularly in ambulatory cancer care where empirical prescriptions are common.
From Uganda, Dr. Margaret Lubwama of Makerere University said sub-Saharan Africa faces an even more severe challenge.
She disclosed that 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 have even been found on hospital surfaces.
Lubwama 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.
Roundtable moderator and BD’s Director of Global Public Health, Ms. Diane Flayhart, 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.
The paper warned that if left unaddressed, antimicrobial resistance could erase years of progress in cancer survival and patient care.
The roundtable and subsequent publication marked a significant step toward bridging the gap between oncology and infectious disease disciplines, emphasizing that cancer care can no longer be separated from global AMR control efforts.
Antimicrobial resistance — in which bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve to resist the medicines used to treat them — is already undermining routine medical procedures, including surgeries, childbirth, cancer treatment, and organ transplants.
The experts concluded that an adaptive, multi-pronged approach involving collaboration at local, national, and global levels is essential to achieve optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.
