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Review
. 2022 Jul 31;11(15):4475.
doi: 10.3390/jcm11154475.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on the Management of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Maria Guarino  1 , Valentina Cossiga  1 , Mario Capasso  1 , Chiara Mazzarelli  2 , Filippo Pelizzaro  3   4 , Rodolfo Sacco  5 , Francesco Paolo Russo  3   4 , Alessandro Vitale  6 , Franco Trevisani  7   8 , Giuseppe Cabibbo  9 ; The Associazione Italiana Per Lo Studio Del Fegato AISF HCC Special Interest Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on the Management of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Maria Guarino et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Worldwide, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) significantly increases mortality and morbidity. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has had a considerable impact on healthcare systems all around the world, having a significant effect on planned patient activity and established care pathways, in order to meet the difficult task of the global pandemic. Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are considered a particularly susceptible population and conceivably at increased risk for severe COVID-19 because of two combined risk factors: chronic advanced liver disease and HCC itself. In these challenging times, it is mandatory to reshape clinical practice in a prompt way to preserve the highest standards of patient care and safety. However, due to the stay-at-home measures instituted to stop the spread of COVID-19, HCC surveillance has incurred a dramatic drop, and care for HCC patients has been rearranged by refining the algorithm for HCC treatment to the COVID-19 pandemic, permitting these patients to be safely managed by identifying those most at risk of neoplastic disease progression.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; hepatocellular carcinoma; liver cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

Giuseppe Cabibbo has served as a consultant or on advisory boards for Bayer, Eisai, Ipsen, and AstraZeneca; Chiara Mazzarelli has served on advisory boards for Esai and MSD and obtained a travel grant from Biotest. Franco Trevisani has served as consultant or on advisory boards for Astra-Zeneca, Abbvie, Bayer, BMS, Eisai, Gilead, MSD, and Roche. All the other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Measures to minimize the risk of COVID-19 in HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) patients.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The role of Multidisciplinary Tumor Board during the COVID-19 pandemic for HCC patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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