1. Changes in breast cancer management during the Corona Virus Disease 19 pandemic: An international survey of the European Breast Cancer Research Association of Surgical Trialists (EUBREAST)
- Author
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Oreste Gentilini, Orit Kaidar-Person, Maria Luisa Gasparri, Philip Poortmans, T. Kuehn, and Diana Lueftner
- Subjects
Coping (psychology) ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Virus diseases ,Breast surgery ,Systemic therapy ,Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological ,COVID-19 Testing ,Breast cancer ,0302 clinical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Pandemic ,Mass Screening ,030212 general & internal medicine ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,Mastectomy ,Disease Management ,General Medicine ,lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,Europe ,Radiation therapy ,Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Coronavirus Infections ,medicine.medical_specialty ,COVID-19 Vaccines ,Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ,Pneumonia, Viral ,Antineoplastic Agents ,Breast Neoplasms ,Workload ,lcsh:RC254-282 ,Article ,Time-to-Treatment ,Betacoronavirus ,03 medical and health sciences ,medicine ,Humans ,Chemotherapy ,Pandemics ,Radiotherapy ,Clinical Laboratory Techniques ,SARS-CoV-2 ,business.industry ,Gene Expression Profiling ,COVID-19 ,medicine.disease ,Triage ,Emergency medicine ,Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ,Surgery ,Human medicine ,business ,Delivery of Health Care - Abstract
Background Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) had a worldwide negative impact on healthcare systems, which were not used to coping with such pandemic. Adaptation strategies prioritizing COVID-19 patients included triage of patients and reduction or re-allocation of other services. The aim of our survey was to provide a real time international snapshot of modifications of breast cancer management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A survey was developed by a multidisciplinary group on behalf of European Breast Cancer Research Association of Surgical Trialists and distributed via breast cancer societies. One reply per breast unit was requested. Results In ten days, 377 breast centres from 41 countries completed the questionnaire. RT-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 prior to treatment was reported by 44.8% of the institutions. The estimated time interval between diagnosis and treatment initiation increased for about 20% of institutions. Indications for primary systemic therapy were modified in 56% (211/377), with upfront surgery increasing from 39.8% to 50.7% (p, Highlights • Management of breast cancer patients was modified during the pandemic. • Waiting time increased during the pandemic in 20% of the institutions. • A workload reduction of ≥50% was reported in 1/3 and relocation of the centres in 13%. • It is unknown whether these changes will affect outcome of breast cancer patients.
- Published
- 2020
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