ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 pandemic has added a degree of complexity in the management of patients with NET. We have little information about the real impact of COVID-19 in current practice. The aim of this study is to capture if and how COVID-19 is changing the way in which healthcare professionals treat NET patients. Methods: NET CONNECT taskforce designed an online anonymous survey addressing different aspects of NET. Survey was sent to nurses and physicians working in ENETS Centers of Excellence (CoE) and other hospitals with high volume of NET between March 24th and April 27th 2021. Results: 47 health professionals (47% female, 19% nurses, 72% >20 years of experience) from 37 institutions (79% ENETS CoE, 55% >500 ongoing NET patients;51% EU, 38% UK, 11% US) completed the survey;70% of responders worked in areas of high COVID prevalence and 11% tested positive for COVID themselves. According to responders, pandemic affected their relationship with patients (49%). Telemedicine was widely used by 62% and included phone calls (96%), video conference (43%), telemedicine apps (19%) and email (51%). Tumor boards kept their usual schedule (60%), but were held virtually in 79%. Among main patient worries perceived by clinicians were the risk of COVID-19-related complications (64%), difficulties in the management of their disease (74%), or oncological medication (87%). Watch and wait strategies were used more commonly (34%), while surgery was often (55%) delayed. Somatostatin analogs (SSA) were increasingly used as bridging strategy for delaying surgery (32%), and were self-injected or delivered by home care service in 36% and 49% of cases respectively. Treatment breaks of targeted therapies (17%), PRRT (13%), or chemotherapy (9%) were also proposed. Patients with advanced NET were considered a priority group for vaccination (94%), but not those with resected NET (19%). Conclusions: COVID-19 pandemic paved the way towards telemedicine in many institutions. While systemic treatments were generally continued, surgical interventions were delayed in 55% of cases. Regarding SSA, home care service or self-injections have been used more frequently. As the pandemic evolves, new data will be needed to design future health policy measures. Legal entity responsible for the study: NET CONNECT Taskforce Group. Funding: Ipsen. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of modern-day oncology, including how stakeholders communicate through social media. We surveyed oncology stakeholders in order to assess their attitudes pertaining to social media and how it has been affected during the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 40-item survey was distributed to stakeholders from 8 July to 22 July 2020 and was promoted through the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the OncoAlert Network. RESULTS: One thousand and seventy-six physicians and stakeholders took part in the survey. In total, 57.3% of respondents were medical oncologists, 50.6% aged <40 years, 50.8% of female gender and mostly practicing in Europe (51.5%). More than 90% of respondents considered social media a useful tool for distributing scientific information and for education. Most used social media to stay up to date on cancer care in general (62.5%) and cancer care during COVID-19 (61%) given the constant flow of information. Respondents also used social media to interact with other oncologists (78.8%) and with patients (34.4%). Overall, 61.1% of respondents were satisfied with the role that social media was playing during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, 41.1% of respondents reported trouble in discriminating between credible and less credible information and 30% stated social networks were a source of stress. For this reason, one-third of respondents reduced its use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding meeting attendance, a total of 59.1% of responding physicians preferred in-person meetings to virtual ones, and 51.8% agreed that virtual meetings and social distancing could hamper effective collaboration. CONCLUSION: Social media has a useful role in supporting cancer care and professional engagement in oncology. Although one-third of respondents reported reduced use of social media due to stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority found social media useful to keep up to date and were satisfied with the role social media was playing during the pandemic.