Management of cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic at developing countries.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	González-Montero, Jaime Valenzuela, Guillermo Ahumada, Mónica Barajas, Olga Villanueva, Luis
Copyright Year	2020
Abstract	Cancer patient care requires a multi-disciplinary approach and multiple medical and ethical considerations. Clinical care during a pandemic health crisis requires prioritising the use of resources for patients with a greater chance of survival, especially in developing countries. The coronavirus disease 2019 crisis has generated new challenges given that cancer patients are normally not prioritised for admission in critical care units. Nevertheless, the development of new cancer drugs and novel adjuvant/neoadjuvant protocols has dramatically improved the prognosis of cancer patients, resulting in a more complex decision-making when prioritising intensive care in pandemic times. In this context, it is essential to establish an effective and transparent communication between the oncology team, critical care, and emergency units to make the best decisions, considering the principles of justice and charity. Concurrently, cancer treatment protocols must be adapted to prioritise according to oncologic response and prognosis. Communication technologies are powerful tools to optimise cancer care during pandemics, and we must adapt quickly to this new scenario of clinical care and teaching. In this new challenging pandemic scenario, multi-disciplinary work and effective communication between clinics, technology, science, and ethics is the key to optimising clinical care of cancer patients.
Volume Number	8
PubMed Central reference number	PMC7457113
Issue Number	16
PubMed reference number	32913846
Journal	World Journal of Clinical Cases
e-ISSN	23078960
DOI	10.12998/wjcc.v8.i16.3390
Language	English
Publisher	Baishideng Publishing Group Inc
Publisher Date	2020-08-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Subject Keyword	Cancer Oncology Pandemic COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine