Considerations for the Surgical Management of Early Stage Lung Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Clin Lung Cancer
; 22(3): 156-160, 2021 May.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-622762
ABSTRACT
The highly transmissible novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected over 8.8 million people globally and has upended the delivery of health care in the United States, creating unprecedented challenges to providing care to patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The initial surge of patients with COVID-19 that have flooded hospitals has put a strain on physical space, workforce, and supplies. In addition, social distancing and the risk of COVID-19 transmission has created significant barriers for thoracic surgeons to diagnose and treat patients. Many hospitals across the country have temporarily suspended elective operations to preserve hospital beds, ventilators, and personal protective equipment. Currently, the pandemic has greatly disrupted the current standard of resection after adequate staging with imaging and/or surgical staging for early stage NSCLC well beyond the initial acute phase; therefore, a new paradigm for effective management will need to be devised until the COVID-19 pandemic is eradicated with systematic vaccination and herd immunity. Thoracic surgeons will need to recalibrate their approach to ensure that patients receive timely and effective treatment for early stage NSCLC. The management of early stage NSCLC during the COVID-19 pandemic should be balanced with available hospital resources, risk of progression of disease, risk of transmission of COVID-19 to patient and surgeon, and the availability of alternative therapies. This article will address the current challenges with treating early stage NSCLC during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide a clinical framework for providing effective surgical therapy while mitigating the risk of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to patients and surgeons.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
/
COVID-19
/
Lung Neoplasms
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Topics:
Traditional medicine
/
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Clin Lung Cancer
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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