Cancer management during the COVID-19 pandemic: Choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea

Marc Boutros; Elissar Moujaess; Hampig Raphael Kourie

doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2021.103273

Cancer management during the COVID-19 pandemic: Choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea

Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2021 Nov:167:103273. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2021.103273. Epub 2021 Mar 15.

Authors

Marc Boutros¹, Elissar Moujaess², Hampig Raphael Kourie³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon.
² Department of Hematology and Oncology, Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Department of Hematology and Oncology, Hotel Dieu de France University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.

Abstract

COVID-19 was declared a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" in March 2020. Since then, drastic measures were implemented to reduce the virus spread. These measures prevented cancer patients from receiving prompt medical care. A delay in testing and treating cancer patients is thought to protect them from serious COVID-19 complications but exposes them at the same time to the risk of disease progression and cancer related mortality. Healthcare providers are therefore facing the dilemma of choosing between two unpleasant scenarios. To shed light upon the matter, we present in this review article, based on an extensive search of the literature, an overview of the delay in the management of cancer patients, possible contributors to this delay and its benefits and risks on cancer patients' health.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer; Delay; Oncology; Outcomes; Postpone; Screening; Treatment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Neoplasms* / therapy
Pandemics
Patient Care
SARS-CoV-2