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Review
. 2020 Jul 30:12:6467-6476.
doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S260842. eCollection 2020.

Treatment of Gastric Cancer Patients During COVID-19 Pandemic: The West is More Vulnerable

Wojciech Piotr Polkowski  1 , Katarzyna Sędłak  1 , Karol Rawicz-Pruszyński  1
Affiliations
Review

Treatment of Gastric Cancer Patients During COVID-19 Pandemic: The West is More Vulnerable

Wojciech Piotr Polkowski et al. Cancer Manag Res. .

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 is currently the biggest international concern. Treatment of gastric cancer (GC) patients in the pandemic era with high hospital burden and under severe oncological/surgical resource constraints should implicate a need for resource re-allocation with a new "pandemic" GC treatment algorithm. The neoadjuvant/perioperative (radio-)chemotherapy is applied in the majority of advanced GC cases with poor postoperative therapy compliance. In the East, radical surgery is frequently used in the first instance, with adjuvant chemotherapy reserved for patients with a high risk of recurrence. Moreover, the elderly population might be effectively treated by surgery alone, thus saving oncological resources for younger people who need a more aggressive approach. In this framework, prioritization is a key concept based on the severity of symptoms and the need for urgent (surgical) intervention. High-risk and marginally effective surgery should be replaced with definitive radio- and/or chemotherapy. The pandemic framework to provide optimal care for GC patients must be based on multidisciplinary decision-making and include all anti-cancer treatment options: surgery, systemic therapy, and radiotherapy. The priority and staffing dictate adherence to the new algorithm. We believe that these priorities may improve the delivery of care to all, including elderly GC patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; gastric cancer; multidisciplinary treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Treatment algorithm of GC patients during the COVID-19 pandemic with limited health care resources.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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