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Review
. 2020 Apr;8(7):498.
doi: 10.21037/atm.2020.03.158.

The challenges in colorectal cancer management during COVID-19 epidemic

Xianghai Ren  1   2   3   4   5   6 , Baoxiang Chen  1   3   4   5   6 , Yuntian Hong  1   3   4   5   6 , Weicheng Liu  1   3   4   5   6 , Qi Jiang  7 , Jingying Yang  8 , Qun Qian  1   3   4   5   6 , Congqing Jiang  1   3   4   5   6
Affiliations
Review

The challenges in colorectal cancer management during COVID-19 epidemic

Xianghai Ren et al. Ann Transl Med. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

It has been over 2 months since the start of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. The epidemic stage of COVID-19 has brought great challenges to the diagnosis and management of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Symptoms, such as fever and cough caused by cancer, and the therapeutic process (including chemotherapy and surgery) should be differentiated from some COVID-19 related characteristics. Besides, clinical workers should not only consider the therapeutic strategy for cancer, but also emphasize COVID-19's prevention. Moreover, the detailed therapeutic regimens of CRC patients may be different from the usual. Also, treatment principles may various for CRC patients with or without severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, as well as patients with or without an emergency presentation. In this paper, we want to discuss the above-mentioned problems based on previous guidelines, the current working status and our experiences, to provide a reference for medical personnel.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); colorectal cancer (CRC).

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/atm.2020.03.158). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagnosis process of the colorectal cancer patients during the outbreak period of COVID-19 infection. COIVD-19, Coronavirus disease 2019; MDT, multidisciplinary team.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Recommended treatment strategies for non-emergency colorectal cancer cases without SARS-CoV-2 infection during the epidemic. CRC, colorectal cancer; cCR, clinical complete response; mCRC, metastatic colorectal cancer.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Recommended personal protective measures for medical staff when performing a surgical intervention for suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients. Adapted from reference (18) with permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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