Treating Ovarian Cancer During Covid-19
- Some cancer patients are still able to have essential surgeries
- For patients seeking surgery, doctors are considering whether to give more doses of chemotherapy so delays are not harmful and undergoing surgery is safer
- Delaying surgery is case by case, and patients should speak to their doctors about their concerns and get all of the facts
"Fortunately we're still operating on our patients who have cancer," says Dr. Erin Crane, a gynecologic oncologist at Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. Those surgeries are still considered essential, not elective. But she adds that many of her patients, whether awaiting surgery or undergoing chemotherapy, are concerned about coming into the hospital and possibly being exposed to other patients who may be carriers of the novel coronavirus. Her patients, she says, are also concerned about being immunocompromised as a result of their therapy, and facing risks when they have to go to work or do vital things like buy groceries for themselves.
Read More While there have been cases of Covid-19 in Charlotte, Dr. Crane says that doctors there have been able to safely administer chemotherapy on schedule to their ovarian cancer patients. And for patients facing surgery, "We will discuss whether to delay the surgery and give them a few more courses of chemotherapy until it's safer for them to undergo procedures." Dr. Crane says that in places where the coronavirus has affected more patients, some doctors are delaying chemotherapy or maintenance treatments like Avastin "so that patients don't have to come into the hospital to have labs done and get infusions, and potentially be exposed." Each individual case is different, and patients should discuss with their oncologists which treatments are essential now, and which can be safely postponed until the pandemic has waned. "The biggest part of our jobs, from the time of cancer diagnosis to counseling patients during treatment, is to reassure them that they'll get through this and they'll be okay," says Dr. Crane. And that's more crucial than ever during a pandemic.
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