In this exclusive session, leading experts Amer Zeidan, MBBS, MHS, John Mascarenhas, MD, Jan Bewersdorf, MD & Rory Shallis, MD, discuss and debate the special considerations for managing patients with hematological malignancies in the COVID-19 era.
The topics discussed follow from the recommendations made in a recent publication the speakers co-authored in Lancet Haematology: reducing nosocomial COVID-19 infections and resource allocation, clinical trial participation and treating patients with ALL, CML, MPNs, MDS and AML.
“With hematologic malignancies and also solid oncology patients, currently data from China showed that there was a up to three to four-fold increased mortality of those patients. And so, what we tried to do is we tried to conserve resources, trying to really protect our cancer patients, both hematologic and solid malignancies, from the COVID floors to prevent the nosocomial spread of the infection.”
– Jan Bewersdorf
“In our institution we were allowed, with written justification to the institution, to maintain patients on clinical trials in which there were no alternative best care options that they could receive locally. And we limited the visits to those that ensured safety. We eliminated efficacy evaluations, like MRIs or bone marrow biopsies, that wouldn’t change the course of their care, unnecessarily.”
– John Mascarenhas
“Generally with curative intent therapy, while you are trying to reduce the risk of the myelosuppression and the risk of infection for patients, at the same time, you don’t want to alter a regimen that has been associated with a chance of cure.”
– Amer Zeidan
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