Effect of treatment interruptions and outcomes in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care institute

Barik, Sandip Kumar; Singh, Arvind Kumar; Mishra, Meenakshi; Amritt, Adhar; Sahu, Dinesh Prasad; Majumdar, Saroj Kumar Das; Parida, Dillip Kumar

doi:10.1186/s43046-022-00129-0

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(16 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A series of effort had been exerted to stop the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, although these policies could disturb normal medical behavior. Hence, this finding is in line with a survey in the Netherlands whereby chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiotherapy for many cancer patients was postponed or cancelled (Guven et al, 2020a;van der Veldt et al, 2021;Barik et al, 2022). However, patients' fear of COVID-19 grew as a result of the delay in treatment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Fear of COVID-19 among cancer patients in Henan Province, Central China: causes, results, and coping factors

Mao

Kang

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectivesCancer patients exhibit fear of COVID-19, which could lead to serious consequences. However, minimal information is available about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of cancer patients. Therefore, this study aims to examine the fear level of COVID-19 among cancer patients in Henan Province, Central China and to identify its causes, results, and coping factors.MethodsAn online survey was conducted among 1,067 cancer patients. The participants reported their individual fear level of COVID-19, risk of COVID-19 infection, risk of death from COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccination concerns, influence level of COVID-19 pandemic on their disease treatment, loneliness due to COVID-19, economic burden from COVID-19, quality of life, safety behavior, information regarding COVID-19 vaccination, psychological guidance, physical activities, and demographic characteristics. Chi-square and cumulative logistic regression were used to determine the predictors of COVID-19 fear level.ResultsThis study indicates that cancer patients report moderate fear level of COVID-19 in Central China (66.9%). The six cause factors (risk of COVID-19 infection, risk of death from COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccination concerns, influence level of COVID-19 pandemic on disease treatment, loneliness due to COVID-19, and economic burden from COVID-19) were positively associated with COVID-19 fear level. Three coping factors (information regarding COVID-19 vaccination, psychological guidance, and physical activities) were negatively associated with COVID-19 fear level. COVID-19 fear level was negatively associated with quality of life and positively associated with safety behavior.ConclusionOur results suggest that governments should improve access to personalized vaccine counseling and psychological guidance by undertaking the responsibility of patients’ attending physicians and increasing publicity. Physical activities should be included in the treatment program to help cancer patients better recover their physical and mental health.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Fear of COVID-19 among cancer patients in Henan Province, Central China: causes, results, and coping factors

Mao

Kang

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It was reported by other investigators that patients receiving recent cancer therapy may have better outcome to COVID-19, [ 27 ] but larger studies and other registry data showed recent cancer treatment was associated with adverse outcomes. [ 22 , 28 ] This discrepancy may be explained by the heterogeneity the diseases itself, the treatment regimens used, and their effects on the immune system and other organs. Metastatic disease status was associated with increased risk compared with localized disease in cancer patients with COVID-19.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interruption of chemotherapy or radiotherapy has been shown to negatively affect outcome in several studies. [ 9 , 28 ] In a large U.S. study of more than 500,000 patients with cancer or no cancer, patients with cancer had worse outcomes. Patients with metastatic disease or receiving recent cancer treatment had worse outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 on Management and Outcomes of Oncology Patients: Results of MENA COVID-19 and Cancer Registry (MCCR)

Jazieh,

Bounedjar,

Abdel-Razeq

et al. 2024

Journal of Immunotherapy and Precision Oncology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction Despite extensive studies of the impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer, there is a dearth of information from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Our study aimed to report pertinent MENA COVID-19 and Cancer Registry (MCCR) findings on patient management and outcomes. Methods MCCR was adapted from the American Society of Clinical Oncology COVID-19 Registry to collect data specifically from patients with cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infection from 12 centers in eight countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, and Morocco. The Registry included data on patients and disease characteristics, treatment, and patient outcomes. Logistic regression was used to assess associations with mortality. Results Between November 29, 2020, and June 8, 2021, data were captured on 2008 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from the beginning of the pandemic. Median age was 56 years (16–98), 56.4% were females, and 26% were current or ex-smokers. Breast cancer (28.5%) was the leading diagnosis and 50.5% had metastatic disease. Delays of planned treatment (>14 days) occurred in 80.3% for surgery, 48.8% for radiation therapy, and 32.9% for systemic therapy. Significant reduction in the delays of all three treatment modalities occurred after June 1, 2020. All-cause mortality rates at 30 and 90 days were 17.1% and 23.4%, respectively. All-cause mortality rates at 30 days did not change significantly after June 1, 2020; however, 90-day mortality increased from 33.4% to 42.9% before and after that date (p = 0.015). Multivariable regression analysis showed the following predictors of higher 30- and 90-day mortality: age older than 70 years, having metastatic disease, disease progression, and being off chemotherapy. Conclusion Patients with cancer in the MENA region experienced similar risks and outcome of COVID-19 as reported in other populations. Although there were fewer treatment delays after June 1, 2020, 90-day mortality increased, which may be attributed to other risk factors such as disease progression or new patients who presented with more advanced disease.

show abstract

“…Disruptions in radiotherapy, however, are inevitable for several unavoidable factors, such as public holidays ( 37 ) (the largest share, about 39-46%), machine failures, patient compliance, and adverse effects of treatment ( 38 ). Similarly, because of the pandemic of Corona Virus Disease 2019, confirmed positive patients had longer treatment interruptions, which led to fewer patients completing radiotherapy, thus increasing local disease progression ( 39 ).…”

Section: Interruption Of Radiotherapymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of radiotherapy interruption on nasopharyngeal cancer

Zhao

Yang

2023

Front. Oncol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor originating from the epithelial cells of the nasopharynx with a unique geographic distribution, and is particularly prevalent in East and Southeast Asia. Due to its anatomical location, the surgery is difficult to access and the high sensitivity of nasopharyngeal cancer to radiotherapy (RT) makes it the main treatment modality. Radical radiotherapy is the first-line treatment for early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma and the cornerstone of multidisciplinary treatment for patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Nevertheless, radiotherapy interruption is inevitable as a consequence of unavoidable factors such as public holidays, machine malfunction, patient compliance, and adverse response to treatment, which in turn leads to a reduction in bioactivity and causes sublethal loss of tumor cells to repair. Unirradiated tumor cells are more likely to repopulate at or near their original fastest growth rate during this interval. If no measures are taken after the radiotherapy interruption, such as increasing the dose of radiotherapy and systemic therapy, the tumor is most likely to go uncontrolled and then progress. This review describes the effects of radiotherapy interruption on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the mechanism of the effect, and explores the measures that can be taken in response to such interruption.

show abstract

Effect of treatment interruptions and outcomes in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care institute

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Fear of COVID-19 among cancer patients in Henan Province, Central China: causes, results, and coping factors

Fear of COVID-19 among cancer patients in Henan Province, Central China: causes, results, and coping factors

Impact of COVID-19 on Management and Outcomes of Oncology Patients: Results of MENA COVID-19 and Cancer Registry (MCCR)

Effect of radiotherapy interruption on nasopharyngeal cancer

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About