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Editorial
. 2020 Jun 17:14:1060.
doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2020.1060. eCollection 2020.

Management of cervical cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: a challenge for developing countries

Maria Del Pilar Estevez-Diz  1   2 , Renata Colombo Bonadio  1   2 , Vanessa Costa Miranda  1   2 , Jesus Paula Carvalho  1
Affiliations
Editorial

Management of cervical cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: a challenge for developing countries

Maria Del Pilar Estevez-Diz et al. Ecancermedicalscience. .

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health services worldwide are going through important adaptations to assist patients infected with COVID-19, at the same time as continuing to provide assistance to other potentially life-threatening diseases. Although patients with cancer may be at increased risk for severe events related to COVID-19 infection, their oncologic treatments frequently cannot be delayed for long periods without jeopardising oncologic outcomes. Considering this, a careful consideration for treatment management of different malignancies is required. Cervical cancer is concentrated mainly in low-middle income countries (LMICs), which face particular challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the scarcity of health resources in many places. Although cervical cancer is the fourth cause of cancer death among women, it receives little attention from international Oncology societies and scientific research studies. In this review paper, we discuss the cervical cancer landscape and provide specialists recommendations for its management during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly focused on LMICs' reality.

Keywords: COVID-19; cervical cancer; coronavirus; developing countries; pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Renata Colombo Bonadio has received financial support for educational programs from AstraZeneca and financial support for attending symposia from Roche. Vanessa Costa Miranda has received honoraria from Mundipharma. All other authors have no disclosures/conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Flowchart of recommendations for the management of cervical cancer patients in active treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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