Continuing Cancer Treatment in a “COVID HOTSPOT” in India: Are We Overestimating the Risks?

Abstract Context: We describe the treatment of cancer patients carried out in a Government of India-designated, dedicated coronavirus disease (COVID) hospital (DCH) in a COVID hotspot in India. Aims: The aim was to study the change and delay in the management of cancer patients during the pandemic a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Indian journal of medical and paediatric oncology Vol. 41; no. 5; pp. 634 - 639
Main Authors:	Parasnis, Amit Surendra, Kelkar, Dhananjay S, Khaladkar, Bhagyashree Suparn, Kurlekar, Utkrant A, Deshmukh, Chetan D, Pingle, Sonali, Hingmire, Sachin S, Kulkarni, Padmaj S, Shende, Shailesh S, Phadke, Girish K, Sambhus, Mahesh B, Melinkeri, Sameer R, Kanvinde, Shailesh A
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd 01-09-2020 Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd
Subjects:	Cancer research Cancer therapies Cancer treatment Coronaviruses Drug therapy Epidemics India Original Article Pandemics India radiotherapy cancer treatment COVID-19 pandemic chemotherapy Cancer surgery
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Summary:	Abstract Context: We describe the treatment of cancer patients carried out in a Government of India-designated, dedicated coronavirus disease (COVID) hospital (DCH) in a COVID hotspot in India. Aims: The aim was to study the change and delay in the management of cancer patients during the pandemic and its complications. Settings and Design: This was an observational cohort study conducted at a tertiary care center, which was also a DCH. Subjects and Methods: Cancer patients receiving cancer surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy in our DCH, during the lockdown, were studied. Results: A total of 864 patients received treatment for cancer in our hospital during the period of March 20, 2020 – May 31, 2020. There were no COVID-related complications. The treatment of 109/864 patients (12.61%) was delayed due to the pandemic and lockdown situation and the treatment plan was changed for 84/864 (9.72%) patients. There were 21 deaths in these 864 patients (2.43%), but only two deaths were COVID related. Symptomatic patients were tested for COVID, and 3/864 patients (0.34%) were detected to be COVID positive. Conclusions: We successfully delivered cancer treatment to patients in our DCH. The percentage of adverse effects, symptomatic COVID infection, and related mortality has been very low in our study. Cancer care can be continued with due diligence even during this pandemic.
ISSN:	0971-5851 0975-2129
DOI:	10.4103/ijmpo.ijmpo_327_20