TY - JOUR
T1 - Management of Germ Cell Tumors During the Outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic
T2 - A Survey of International Expertise Centers
AU - Italian Germ Cell Cancer Group (IGG)
AU - Nappi, Lucia
AU - Ottaviano, Margaret
AU - Rescigno, Pasquale
AU - Tortora, Marianna
AU - Banna, Giuseppe L
AU - Baciarello, Giulia
AU - Basso, Umberto
AU - Canil, Christina
AU - Cavo, Alessia
AU - Cossu Rocca, Maria
AU - Czaykowski, Piotr
AU - De Giorgi, Ugo
AU - Garcia Del Muro, Xavier
AU - Di Napoli, Marilena
AU - Fornarini, Giuseppe
AU - Gietema, Jourik A
AU - Heng, Daniel Y C
AU - Hotte, Sebastien J
AU - Kollmannsberger, Christian
AU - Maruzzo, Marco
AU - Messina, Carlo
AU - Morelli, Franco
AU - Mulder, Sasja
AU - Nichols, Craig
AU - Nolè, Franco
AU - Oing, Christoph
AU - Sava, Teodoro
AU - Secondino, Simona
AU - Simone, Giuseppe
AU - Soulieres, Denis
AU - Vincenzi, Bruno
AU - Zucali, Paolo A
AU - De Placido, Sabino
AU - Palmieri, Giovannella
N1 - © 2020 AlphaMed Press.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a public health emergency affecting frail populations, including patients with cancer. This poses the question of whether cancer treatments can be postponed or modified without compromising their efficacy, especially for highly curable cancers such as germ cell tumors (GCTs).MATERIALS AND METHODS: To depict the state-of-the-art management of GCTs during the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey including 26 questions was circulated by e-mail among the physicians belonging to three cooperative groups: (a) Italian Germ Cell Cancer Group; (b) European Reference Network-Rare Adult Solid Cancers, Domain G3 (rare male genitourinary cancers); and (c) Genitourinary Medical Oncologists of Canada. Percentages of agreement between Italian respondents (I) versus Canadian respondents (C), I versus European respondents (E), and E versus C were compared by using Fisher's exact tests for dichotomous answers and chi square test for trends for the questions with three or more options.RESULTS: Fifty-three GCT experts responded to the survey: 20 Italian, 6 in other European countries, and 27 from Canada. Telemedicine was broadly used; there was high consensus to interrupt chemotherapy in COVID-19-positive patients (I = 75%, C = 55%, and E = 83.3%) and for use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor primary prophylaxis for neutropenia (I = 65%, C = 62.9%, and E = 50%). The main differences emerged regarding the management of stage I and stage IIA disease, likely because of cultural and geographical differences.CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the common efforts of GCT experts in Europe and Canada to maintain high standards of treatment for patients with GCT with few changes in their management during the COVID-19 pandemic.IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Despite the chaos, disruptions, and fears fomented by the COVID-19 illness, oncology care teams in Italy, other European countries, and Canada are delivering the enormous promise of curative management strategies for patients with testicular cancer and other germ cell tumors. At the same time, these teams are applying safe and innovative solutions and sharing best practices to minimize frequency and intensity of patient contacts with thinly stretched health care capacity.
AB - BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a public health emergency affecting frail populations, including patients with cancer. This poses the question of whether cancer treatments can be postponed or modified without compromising their efficacy, especially for highly curable cancers such as germ cell tumors (GCTs).MATERIALS AND METHODS: To depict the state-of-the-art management of GCTs during the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey including 26 questions was circulated by e-mail among the physicians belonging to three cooperative groups: (a) Italian Germ Cell Cancer Group; (b) European Reference Network-Rare Adult Solid Cancers, Domain G3 (rare male genitourinary cancers); and (c) Genitourinary Medical Oncologists of Canada. Percentages of agreement between Italian respondents (I) versus Canadian respondents (C), I versus European respondents (E), and E versus C were compared by using Fisher's exact tests for dichotomous answers and chi square test for trends for the questions with three or more options.RESULTS: Fifty-three GCT experts responded to the survey: 20 Italian, 6 in other European countries, and 27 from Canada. Telemedicine was broadly used; there was high consensus to interrupt chemotherapy in COVID-19-positive patients (I = 75%, C = 55%, and E = 83.3%) and for use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor primary prophylaxis for neutropenia (I = 65%, C = 62.9%, and E = 50%). The main differences emerged regarding the management of stage I and stage IIA disease, likely because of cultural and geographical differences.CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the common efforts of GCT experts in Europe and Canada to maintain high standards of treatment for patients with GCT with few changes in their management during the COVID-19 pandemic.IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Despite the chaos, disruptions, and fears fomented by the COVID-19 illness, oncology care teams in Italy, other European countries, and Canada are delivering the enormous promise of curative management strategies for patients with testicular cancer and other germ cell tumors. At the same time, these teams are applying safe and innovative solutions and sharing best practices to minimize frequency and intensity of patient contacts with thinly stretched health care capacity.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Curable tumors
KW - Expert centers
KW - Germ cell tumors
KW - Pandemic
KW - Testicular cancer
U2 - 10.1634/theoncologist.2020-0420
DO - 10.1634/theoncologist.2020-0420
M3 - Article
C2 - 32735386
SN - 1083-7159
VL - 25
SP - e1509-e1515
JO - The Oncologist
JF - The Oncologist
IS - 10
ER -