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. 2021 Mar;39(3):197.e9-197.e17.
doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2020.12.005. Epub 2021 Jan 1.

Management of penile cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: An eUROGEN accelerated Delphi consensus study

Omer Onur Cakir  1 , Fabio Castiglione  2 , Zafer Tandogdu  1 , Justin Collins  1 , Hussain M Alnajjar  3 , Clare Akers  3 , Maarten Albersen  4 , Constantine Alifrangis  5 , Benjamin Ayres  6 , Oscar Brouwer  7 , Ivor Cullen  8 , Peter Hawkey  9 , Jakob Kristian Jakobsen  10 , Truls Erik Bjerklund Johansen  11 , Odunayo Kalejaiye  12 , Asheesh Kaul  13 , Bela Köves  14 , Vivekanandan Kumar  13 , Mariangela Mancini  15 , Anita Vanessa Mitra  16 , Arie Parnham  17 , Edoardo Pozzi  18 , Chris Protzel  19 , Vijay K Sangar  20 , Florian Wagenlehner  21 , Asif Muneer  22
Affiliations

Management of penile cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: An eUROGEN accelerated Delphi consensus study

Omer Onur Cakir et al. Urol Oncol. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: To develop an international consensus on managing penile cancer patients during the COVID-19 acute waves. A major concern for patients with penile cancer during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is how the enforced safety measures will affect their disease management. Delays in diagnosis and treatment initiation may have an impact on the extent of the primary lesion as well as the cancer-specific survival because of the development and progression of inguinal lymph node metastases.

Materials and methods: A review of the COVID-19 literature was conducted in conjunction with analysis of current international guidelines on the management of penile cancer. Results were presented to an international panel of experts on penile cancer and infection control by a virtual accelerated Delphi process using 4 survey rounds. Consensus opinion was defined as an agreement of ≥80%, which was used to reconfigure management pathways for penile cancer.

Results: Limited evidence is available for delaying penile cancer management. The consensus rate of agreement was 100% that penile cancer pathways should be reconfigured, and measures should be developed to prevent perioperative nosocomial transmission of COVID-19. The panel also reached a consensus on several statements aimed at reconfiguring the management of penile cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusions: The international consensus panel proposed a framework for the diagnostic and invasive therapeutic procedures for penile cancer within a low-risk environment for COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Delphi study; Pandemic; Penile cancer.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1.
Outcomes following each survey round.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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