Prostate Cancer and COVID-19: Prioritization Strategies for Disease Management
Posted: Friday, September 18, 2020
A recent article published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases highlighted specific management prioritizations and adjustments needed in caring for patients with prostate cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ali Riza Kural, MD, of Acibadem University, Istanbul, Turkey, and colleagues thoroughly reviewed published and online information related to prostate cancer management during this time, focusing on all aspects of the disease, including diagnosis, staging, surgery, systemic treatment, and radiotherapy. Their recommendations provide a reasonable perspective on the risk/benefit ratio in specific clinical scenarios. However, they added, their recommendations will need to be modified as new data become available.
“Benefit of care from treatment must be carefully weighed against the potential of infection and morbidity from COVID-19. Furthermore, urologists need to be cognizant of their obligation for wise consumption of restricted health-care resources and protection of the safety of their co-workers,” stated Dr. Kural and colleagues.
Based on their extensive review of information on prostate cancer management, Dr. Kural and colleagues highlighted that nonurgent in-person clinic visits should be postponed or conducted remotely via phone or teleconference; screening, imaging, and biopsies should be suspended in general; and treatment should be safely deferred in low- and intermediate-risk patients. They also highlighted specific presurgery measures and advocated for surgeries to be postponed whenever possible. Highlighted recommendations for radiotherapy suggested the shortest and safest external-beam radiation therapy regimen be chosen and chemotherapy be avoided whenever possible.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
