Open AccessChallenges in cancer management during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a systematic review
Author(s) -
Alan Paulo Amaral Oliveira,
Alícia Rocha de Mesquita Schafranek,
Larissa de Oliveira Briganti Carvalho,
Mariana Martins de Vitro,
Renata Messias Frazão,
Victor Alves Nascimento,
Pollyanna Francielli de Oliveira
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
research, society and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2525-3409
DOI - 10.33448/rsd-v10i3.13251
Subject(s) - pandemic , medicine , systematic review , covid-19 , clinical trial , protocol (science) , scarcity , cancer , intensive care medicine , medline , randomized controlled trial , alternative medicine , pathology , disease , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law , economics , microeconomics
The SARS-CoV-2 spread and the installation of a pandemic generated drastic changes in society's lifestyle, in health practices, and in the way we do and consume science. There are countless uncertainties regarding the virus and its health implications, especially for individuals from vulnerable groups, such as oncologic patients. The aim of this systematic review was to identify what has been the reality of oncology in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. A systematic review was carried out on the Pubmed® platform, based on the Prisma protocol, using the following keywords were searched: COVID-19 and Cancer. Among the 94 works selected, including systematic reviews, reviews, randomized trials, multicenter studies, meta-analysis, controlled clinical-trials, comparative studies and case reports, only 36 publications corresponded to the purpose of this study and were used. The results showed that, despite the large volume of studies, there is no consensus concerning gold standard measures. As individuals with cancer tend to evolve with more severe conditions when infected with SARS-CoV-2, oncology services have adopted protocols to guarantee adequate management and prevent the spread of the infection onto its facilities. The possible scarcity of resources during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic brought the necessity to adapt adjust clinical conduct in oncology. Considering the severity and the possibility of a sudden progression of some types of cancer, the professionals must analyze all cases individually to determine the best approach.