Care of immunocompromised patients with head and neck cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: Two challenging and informative clinical cases.
Head Neck
; 42(6): 1131-1136, 2020 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-66373
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND METHODS:
There is an added level of complexity in the management of head and neck cancer patients with underlying immunosuppressive disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Head and neck oncologists are tasked with balancing the dual risks of cancer progression in the setting of impaired tumor immunity and increased susceptibility to life-threatening complications from exposure to viral infection for patients and providers. Through two cases of immunocompromised patients with newly diagnosed head and neck malignancies, we aim to provide guidance to clinicians struggling with how to best counsel and manage this unique subset of patients under these difficult circumstances.RESULTS:
After careful consideration of the options, we took different approaches in the care of these two patients.CONCLUSIONS:
Ultimately, there is no uniform set of rules to apply to this heterogeneous group of immunocompromised patients. We provide some general principles to help guide patient management during the current pandemic.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Immunocompromised Host
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Pandemics
/
Time-to-Treatment
/
Conservative Treatment
/
Head and Neck Neoplasms
Type of study:
Case report
/
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Head Neck
Journal subject:
Neoplasms
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Hed.26165
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