Care disruptions among patients with lung cancer: A COVID-19 and cancer outcomes study

Abstract

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Changes in multiple myeloma treatment patterns during the early COVID-19 pandemic period

“…While other studies have reported delayed/disrupted cancer screening and care during COVID [ 12 – 14 ], our study of real-world adult patients with MM in the US shows little evidence of delayed diagnosis or worsening of clinical presentation, and only modest changes in treatment early during the pandemic. One explanation for this difference is that clinical MM presentation often involves kidney failure, anemia, hypercalcemia, and pathologic bone fractures that must be addressed urgently.…”

Safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab for advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…By comparison, 1.8% (2/111) of patients treated with pembrolizumab on or after March 11, 2020, in the current study developed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Early on in the pandemic, BC Cancer proactively implemented strategies to reduce the risk of virus transmission amongst patients and healthcare workers (BC Cancer 2020 ). Key components of this policy (aside from a shift to virtual consultation and follow-up assessments) included: use of personal protective equipment, screening patients (both the day before and the day of their cancer clinic appointment) for symptoms of COVID-19 disease, and restricting building access to healthcare providers and patients.…”

“…British Columbia (BC) Cancer provides publicly funded oncologic care for the 5.2 million residents of the province of British Columbia, Canada. At the onset of the pandemic, BC Cancer issued clinical management guidelines to limit COVID-19 dissemination amongst patients with cancer and to prioritize healthcare services (BC Cancer 2020 ). For example, in-person appointments were deferred in favor of telemedicine (defined as the delivery of health care services using communication technologies where distance is a critical factor) and extended interval immunotherapy dosing became available (Pan American Health Organization 2016 ).…”

New Normal for Lung Cancer Clinical Trials Under Coronavirus Disease 2019

“…(2021) 11 Spain April 24, 2020–July 3, 2020 447 281/447 (62.9%) 146/447 (32.7%) Sheena et al. (2021) 12 USA March 2, 2020–March 6, 2020 13/313 (4.2%) Not applicable Not applicable Lei et al. (2020) 13 People’s Republic of China January 3, 2020–May 6, 2020 50/11,660 (0.4%) 12/45 (26.7%) 11/45 (24.4%) Liang et al.…”

“…Any accompanied respiratory disease including COVID-19 may inevitably deteriorate and impact patients’ subsequent treatment and prognosis. Several previous studies 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 investigated the impact of COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer, revealing that lung cancer may worsen the degree of COVID-19, leading to higher incidence of severe COVID-19. Meanwhile, patients with lung cancer accompanied by COVID-19 may suffer from higher mortality rate in a relatively short period of time, suggesting the underlying damaging interaction between lung cancer and COVID-19 ( Table 1 ).…”