A Guide for Oncologic Patient Management during Covid-19 Pandemic: The Initial Experience of an Italian Oncologic Hub with Exemplificative Focus on Uro-Oncologic Patients

A Guide for Oncologic Patient Management during Covid-19 Pandemic: The Initial Experience of an Italian Oncologic Hub with Exemplificative Focus on Uro-Oncologic Patients

Matteo Ferro, Ottavio De Cobelli, Gennaro Musi, Fabrizio Mastrilli, Stefano Luzzago, Francesco A. Mistretta, Luigi Orlando Molendini, Enza Dossena

The recent exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in Italy led to the adoption of specific extraordinary measures, such as the need to convey treatment of all non-deferrable cancer patients to specialized centres (hubs). We reported a comprehensive summary of guidelines to create and run an oncologic hub during the COVID-19 pandemic. Oncologic hubs must fulfil some specific requirements such as a high experience in oncologic patient treatment, strict strategies applied to remain a “COVID-19-free” centre, and the creation of a dedicated multidisciplinary “hub team”. Cancer treatment of patients who belong to external centres, namely spoke centres, could be organized in different pathways according to the grade of involvement and/or availability of the medical team of the spoke centre. Moreover, dedicated areas should be created for the management and treatment of patients who developed COVID-19 symptoms after hospitalization (i.e., dedicated wards, operation rooms and intensive care beds). Lastly, hospital staff must be highly trained for both preventing COVID-19 contagion and treating patients who develop the infection. We provided a simplified, but complete and easily applicable guide. We believe that this guide could help those clinicians who have to treat oncologic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020

Surgical Oncology, Medical oncology, Oncology Service, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19

DOI: 10.3390/cancers12061513

Cancers

MDPI AG

Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens