Across the country, SurvivorNet continues to find too many people with cancer who are avoiding or delaying their treatments because of fear associated with coronavirus. Oncologists tell us that they are extremely concerned about this pattern especially since they have been trying to optimize their treatment protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was apprehension at the beginning about leaving homes and this is changing. We are trying everything possible to protect our patients from exposure to any sort of infections. Although, the majority of patients are still rather anxious about leaving their home,” says Dr. Oliver Dorigo, who treats gynecological oncology patients at Stanford University Medical Center.
Read MoreIs Telemedicine the Solution to Growing Fears in Cancer Patients About COVID-19?
Telemedicine During COVID-19
On the East Coast, oncologists have been facing similar issues in terms of the reluctance seen in cancer patients towards receiving in person treatments. In an effort to combat these concerns, NYU doctors have implemented different means of telemedicine.
"One of the things we're concerned about is that patients and people are afraid to leave the house, and a product of this is that people who have serious, life-threatening illnesses are not seeking medical attention in a timely fashion," says Dr. Abraham Chachoua, a medical oncologist specializing in lung cancer at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center.
They have found that not only are cancer patients afraid of seeking treatment but people concerned they might have cancer also are. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, cancer screenings have dropped and elective surgeries have been delayed. Due to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s recommendation of social distancing, some facilities have had to shut down all together. Thus, facilities like NYU have implemented virtual clinics like the NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center's new Suspicion of Cancer Virtual Clinic. In these clinics, patients will be able to explain their symptoms with nurse practitioners over a video call and may be referred to other doctors for further discussion. These virtual efforts allow potentially life-threatening symptoms to not go unnoticed during this time of social distancing.
"Don't ignore symptoms that would be significant, just call us," Dr. Chachoua says.
Telemedicine has both its pros and cons. It allows patients to feel safer when receiving recommendations from doctors and it could speed up second opinions from other doctors. However, it also limits the amount of examining that can go on as certain scans and procedures must take place in person.
"One of the things that bothered me during this time is that you can do some things with teleheath, but you can't do everything," Dr. Chachoua says. "I think we'll find that there's no real substitute for the physical exam. So some people will need to come in and be examined and evaluated."
However, SurvivorNet has even recently seen reluctance amongst patients to receive medical treatment in person.
Cancer Patients Forego Treatment to Avoid COVID-19
Ovarian Cancer Treatment Options During COVID
Dianne Smetana, a 74 year old from Burlington, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer six years ago and after her diagnosis and extensive chemotherapy treatments, Smetana learned that the metastasized in her uterus, liver, and brain. Smetana was ready to give up when her doctor recommended immunotherapy. However, she started that treatment this past February and was worried about the impact that the COVID-19 would have on her and her treatment. She feared that she would not be able to go to her hospital and receive her immunotherapy, even though in May she was told that the treatment was working thus far. She wondered if the hospital would close for a while or stop giving her the treatment. She, alongside many other cancer patients, are continuously asking themselves how they should deal with their cancer treatment during a pandemic that preys are the immunocompromised. However, Smetana and her doctor agreed that she must continue receiving treatment, as it was the only way forward for her. “People with active cancer, they have a known, deadly disease. It can't take a holiday, it can't take a rest, it can't take a vacation,” said Smetana’s doctor, Dr. James Thomas, an oncologist at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center.
Another patient, Jennifer Jindrich, 47, has stage four cancer that has metastasized to her lungs, a particularly concerning thing during a pandemic for a disease that attacks the respiratory system. Jindrich is required to have a three-and-a-half-hour infusion of chemotherapy every two weeks, especially since it has been three years since her diagnosis and she was given an 11 percent chance of being alive five years after her diagnosis. However, Jindrich’s doctors were concerned about her being in the hospital so they collectively decided that she needed to stay home. Doctors at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center have found it devastating as they are seeing their patients forego cancer treatment for the sake of limiting exposure to COVID-19. However, their treatment could be useful after surgery as a curative approach or at least be helpful to keep a patient in remission. No matter the reason for chemotherapy and other cancer treatments, cancer patients have been wary of visiting centers in which their risk of exposure to COVID-19 is possible.
RELATED: What Do People With Lung Cancer Need to Know About COVID-19?
David Rivera, 54, has liver cancer and turned down a donor’s liver in fear that the donor might be infected with COVID-19. Rivera was supposed to receive the transplant at Northwestern and his doctors assured him that the donor tested negative for COVID-19 but the physicians could not guarantee that the liver was COVID-19 free. Even so, the team was certain that the likelihood that the liver of a donor who tested negative for COVID-19 would infect the recipient of the liver was “exceeding low.” However, even the slightest chance of being infected has sent some cancer patients over the edge, unwilling to continue treatments that could potentially save their lives.
Oncologists are trying to utilize both telemedicine and advanced protocols for cancer treatment during COVID-19 to reassure their patients that their safety and health are the priority.
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