Introduction. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has profoundly affected health systems by relocating resources, enforcing restrictive measures and burdening health care workers. The study aims to assess the changes in the treatment and the evolution of cancer patients in a county in Romania, with a population of over a half million inhabitants. Patients and method. Patients with breast, gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer were studied over a two-year period: 14 months before the onset of the pandemic and 10 months after its beginning. The number of new cases of cancer, the number of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, the number of surgeries and deaths from these four types of cancer were recorded. Results. During the pandemic, fewer chemotherapy sessions were administered for all cancers (p<0.0001). The number of radiotherapy sessions for breast (p<0.007) and colorectal cancer (p<0.002) increased by banning patients from going to university hospitals and decreased for lung cancer (p<0.03) which has symptoms similar to those of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Conclusions. Cancer patients had limited access to chemotherapy. Their diagnosis and treatment were included in the same category as non-life-threatening diseases. Testing, quarantine and travel limitation were not accompanied by additional safe medical services for the oncological patients. The death rate is inconclusive because the time since the onset of the pandemic is shorter than the natural evolution of the types of cancers studied.
| Published in | European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 9, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15 |
| Page(s) | 58-62 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Cancer, Pandemic, COVID-19, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Surgery, Mortality, Discrimination, Lockdown, Triage, Policy
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APA Style
Mihaela Leşe, Raul Micu-Chiş, Ioana Leşe. (2021). Management of Cancer Patients During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, in a County in Romania. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 9(2), 58-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15
ACS Style
Mihaela Leşe; Raul Micu-Chiş; Ioana Leşe. Management of Cancer Patients During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, in a County in Romania. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2021, 9(2), 58-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15
AMA Style
Mihaela Leşe, Raul Micu-Chiş, Ioana Leşe. Management of Cancer Patients During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, in a County in Romania. Eur J Prev Med. 2021;9(2):58-62. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15,
author = {Mihaela Leşe and Raul Micu-Chiş and Ioana Leşe},
title = {Management of Cancer Patients During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, in a County in Romania},
journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
volume = {9},
number = {2},
pages = {58-62},
doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.20210902.15},
abstract = {Introduction. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has profoundly affected health systems by relocating resources, enforcing restrictive measures and burdening health care workers. The study aims to assess the changes in the treatment and the evolution of cancer patients in a county in Romania, with a population of over a half million inhabitants. Patients and method. Patients with breast, gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer were studied over a two-year period: 14 months before the onset of the pandemic and 10 months after its beginning. The number of new cases of cancer, the number of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, the number of surgeries and deaths from these four types of cancer were recorded. Results. During the pandemic, fewer chemotherapy sessions were administered for all cancers (p<0.0001). The number of radiotherapy sessions for breast (p<0.007) and colorectal cancer (p<0.002) increased by banning patients from going to university hospitals and decreased for lung cancer (p<0.03) which has symptoms similar to those of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Conclusions. Cancer patients had limited access to chemotherapy. Their diagnosis and treatment were included in the same category as non-life-threatening diseases. Testing, quarantine and travel limitation were not accompanied by additional safe medical services for the oncological patients. The death rate is inconclusive because the time since the onset of the pandemic is shorter than the natural evolution of the types of cancers studied.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Management of Cancer Patients During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic, in a County in Romania AU - Mihaela Leşe AU - Raul Micu-Chiş AU - Ioana Leşe Y1 - 2021/04/20 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15 T2 - European Journal of Preventive Medicine JF - European Journal of Preventive Medicine JO - European Journal of Preventive Medicine SP - 58 EP - 62 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8230 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20210902.15 AB - Introduction. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has profoundly affected health systems by relocating resources, enforcing restrictive measures and burdening health care workers. The study aims to assess the changes in the treatment and the evolution of cancer patients in a county in Romania, with a population of over a half million inhabitants. Patients and method. Patients with breast, gastric, colorectal, and lung cancer were studied over a two-year period: 14 months before the onset of the pandemic and 10 months after its beginning. The number of new cases of cancer, the number of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, the number of surgeries and deaths from these four types of cancer were recorded. Results. During the pandemic, fewer chemotherapy sessions were administered for all cancers (p<0.0001). The number of radiotherapy sessions for breast (p<0.007) and colorectal cancer (p<0.002) increased by banning patients from going to university hospitals and decreased for lung cancer (p<0.03) which has symptoms similar to those of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Conclusions. Cancer patients had limited access to chemotherapy. Their diagnosis and treatment were included in the same category as non-life-threatening diseases. Testing, quarantine and travel limitation were not accompanied by additional safe medical services for the oncological patients. The death rate is inconclusive because the time since the onset of the pandemic is shorter than the natural evolution of the types of cancers studied. VL - 9 IS - 2 ER -
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