Summary and considerations in genitourinary cancer patient care during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: To provide a summary and recommendations for the set-up of strategies for cancer patients care in genitourinary oncology clinics during the pandemic and in the recovery period. Material and Methods: A non-systematic review of available literature on the management of urological malignancies during the COVID-19 pandemic was performed to summarize recommendations to improve the diagnosis and treatment of urological cancers during and after the contingence, including clinical and research aspects. Results: Urological cancer diagnosis and management should be tailored according to the severity of the COVID-19 crisis in each region and the aggressiveness of each tumor. Clinicians should adhere to strict protocols in order to prioritize the attention of patients with high-risk malignancies while optimizing resources to avoid the saturation of critical care services. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic urological cancer care has been severely impaired. For proper patient management, multidisciplinary approach is encouraged tailoring therapy according to COVID-19 regional behavior and local institutional resources. Patients with high-risk malignancies should be prioritized.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic in urology practice, assistance and residency training in a tertiary referral center in Brazil

“…The COVID-19 has deeply changed urology practice, with a great reduction in outpatient appointments, exams, and surgeries. We developed a contingency plan that was similar to most other countries (2)(3)(4)(5).…”

Prioritization of risk situations in neuro-urology: guidelines from Association Française d’Urologie (AFU), Association Francophone Internationale des Groupes d’Animation de la Paraplégie (A.F.I.G.A.P.), Groupe de Neuro-urologie de Langue Française (GENULF), Société Française de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation (SOFMER) and Société Interdisciplinaire Francophone d’UroDynamique et de Pelvi-Périnéologie (SIFUD-PP)

“…To the best of our knowledge, the present work provides the first grading risk-situation guidelines in patients with NLUTD. In the existing guidelines established when the COVID-19 pandemic started, patients with NLUTD were barely considered, and often lumped together with functional urology, which was not considered as an emergency condition by a few scientific societies [ 7 , 15 – 17 ]. Only the EAU [ 18 , 19 ], the AFU [ 5 ], and the ICS[ 20 ] described the neurologic population and suggested a management schedule for these patients in times of health crisis.…”

Recommendations for prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment during COVID-19 outbreak were not followed in Brazil

“…In Brazil, many health care institutions had their non-urgent procedures and elective surgeries suspended for months to concentrate economic and human resources to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak waves (10). With that, guidelines and suggestions have been provided to categorize urological diseases into risk groups and recommendations for follow-up during the COVID-19 outbreak in the management of numerous neoplasms (11,12).…”