Challenges and countermeasures of thoracic oncology in the epidemic of COVID-19

Abstract

Since December, 2019, a 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, and the epidemic situation has continued to spread globally. The epidemic spread of COVID-19 has brought great challenges to the clinical practice of thoracic oncology. Outpatient clinics need to strengthen the differential diagnosis of initial symptoms, pulmonary ground-glass opacity (GGO), consolidation, interstitial and/or interlobular septal thickening, and crazy paving appearance. In the routine of oncology, the differential diagnosis of adverse events from COVID-19 is also significant, including radiation pneumonitis, checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP), neutropenic fever, and so on. During the epidemic, indications of transbronchial biopsy (TBB) and CT-guided percutaneous thoracic biopsy are strictly controlled. For patients who are planning to undergo biopsy operation, screening to exclude the possibility of COVID-19 should be carried out. For confirmed or suspected patients, three-level protection should be performed during the operation. Disinfection and isolation measures should be strictly carried out during the operation. At last, more attention to the protection of cancer patients and give priority to the treatment of infected cancer patients.

Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19); severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); thoracic oncology.