Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on neuroendocrine tumour services in England

Abstract

Purpose During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been particular concerns regarding the related impact on specialist tumour services. Neuroendocrine tumour (NET) services are delivered in a highly specialised setting, typically delivered in a small number of centres that fulfil specific criteria as defined by the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS). We aimed to address the COVID-19-related impact on specialist NET tumour services in England and other countries. Methods Electronic survey addressing patient access and delivery of care distributed to all ENETS Centres of Excellence (CoE) in England and matching number of ENETS CoE elsewhere. Semi-quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey responses were performed. Results Survey response of ENETS CoE in England was 55% (6/11). Responses from six non-UK ENETS CoE elsewhere were received and analysed in a similar manner. Relevant disruption of various NET services was noted across all responding Centres, which included delayed patient appointments and investigations, reduced availability of treatment modalities including delayed surgical treatment and a major negative impact on research activities. The comparison between English and non-UK ENETS CoE suggested that the former had significantly greater concerns related to future research funding (p = 0.014), whilst having less disruption to multidisciplinary meetings (p = 0.01). A trend was also noted towards virtual patient appointments in ENETS CoE in England vs. elsewhere (p = 0.092). Conclusions Restoration of highly specialised NET services following COVID-19 and planning for future service delivery and research funding must take account of the severe challenges encountered during the pandemic.

Coronavirus disease 2019 in patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms: Preliminary results of the INTENSIVE study

“…However, currently there is no available data regarding the risk of infection, disease status and complications of NEN patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, although several consensus papers have been published reporting some general recommendations 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 .…”

“…We searched PubMed on April 05, 2021, using the search terms (“novel coronavirus” OR “SARS-CoV2” OR “COVID-19”) AND (“neuroendocrine tumors” OR “neuroendocrine tumours” OR “neuroendocrine neoplasms” OR “neuroendocrine carcinomas” OR “carcinoids”) for articles in English that documented the COVID-19 in patients with NENs. Sixteen articles appeared, including three case reports, 12 recommendations or consensus statements and one only mini-series of four cases among a large thoracic cancers series 19 , 22 , 23 , 24 17 , 18 , 20 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 .…”

The psychological impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on patients with neuroendocrine tumors: Between resilience and vulnerability

“…29 The COVID-19 pandemic has added another layer of complexity to the fears of NET patients. Inability to travel, difficult access to hospitals and NET clinics, delayed imaging studies, and deferred surgeries or interventional procedures 22,30 are only a few factors potentially contributing to an enhanced psychological distress in NET patients. We longitudinally surveyed a bi-institutional cohort of 197 patients with NET under active treatment or surveillance.…”

How might remote management of diabetes mellitus during the COVID-19 pandemic impact patient care?

“…Furthermore, our own group reported on data from an electronic survey across centers of excellence for Neuro-Endocrine Tumor management across England to assess the effects of COVID-19 on provision of clinical care [9]. Common themes elicited from HCPs regarding remote clinical appointments included advantages of improved convenience for patients and clinical efficiency for HCPs, and disadvantages of inability to examine patients, problems with clinical trial recruitment and the difficulties of addressing emotional concerns of patients [9]. Importantly, much of these insights apply equally to other clinical settings, including the management of patients with DM.…”