The Gynecologic Oncology Institute focuses on ovarian cancer and supports all efforts to get care back to normal as soon as possible. This is another form of collateral damage due to the pandemic and it certainly hits our patients close to home.
Out treatment plans include outpatient care as much as possible, including outpatient robotic surgery, which is minimally invasive and gets you out of the hospital the same day or the next morning. This applies even to advanced cancer cases but requires a personal evaluation to see if that is in your best interests overall.
Cancer Manag Res. 2021, Jan. 14; 13: 359-366. doi: 10.2147 / CMAR.S287152. eCollection 2021.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus Disease 2019, is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the world faces the 2019 coronavirus disease crisis, oncology is facing unprecedented challenges. During this difficult time, ovarian cancer (OC) patients experienced delays in diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, and oncology follow-ups were conducted via telemedicine rather than face-to-face visits. OC patients and their oncologists are balancing fears of COVID-19 and cancer treatment with the consequences of delaying cancer treatment. The delay in treating women with OC has led to higher levels of cancer concerns, anxiety, and depression. This article briefly examines the diagnosis and treatment impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the ongoing clinical trials on OC. We also discuss the psychological effects of COVID-19 on women with OC and alternative therapeutic strategies to limit personal hospital visits to reduce the spread of the disease, as well as the effects of COVID-19 on OC patients.
PMID: 33469377 | PMC: PMC7813454 | DOI: 10.2147 / CMAR.S287152