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Special considerations for elderly patients with head and neck cancer during the COVID ‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Sharma Arun,
Crosby Dana L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.26216
Subject(s) - medicine , pandemic , head and neck cancer , covid-19 , cancer , intensive care medicine , malignancy , population , disease , multidisciplinary approach , adverse effect , emergency medicine , infectious disease (medical specialty) , environmental health , social science , sociology
Elderly patients with head and neck cancer are at increased risk of adverse outcomes during and after treatment of head and neck cancer. COVID‐19 severity and mortality can be expected to be significantly greater in elderly patients with head and neck cancer, given that increased age, comorbidities, and presence of malignancy are known risk factors for disease severity and mortality in patients with COVID‐19. Therefore, their management requires multidisciplinary consensus and patient input. A thorough geriatric assessment, which has been shown to be beneficial prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic, could be particularly helpful in this patient population with the added dimension of COVID‐19 risk. In many cases, prudent treatment plan modification may allow for overall best outcomes. Furthermore, recruitment of social services and, when appropriate, palliative care, may allow for optimal management of these patients.