Fear the deadly combo of COVID-19 and cancer

Every third Tuesday of the month, Katherine O’Brien wears a face mask and heads to the Northwestern University’s Lurie Cancer Center in about 30 minutes by Metra.

The railroad car that once rolled into Chicago is now eerily empty. People who commute to towering skyscrapers usually overrun the pandemic from their homes. But for O’Brien, excursions are a must. She is one of the millions of Americans fighting cancer and relies on chemotherapy to treat breast cancer that has spread to her bones and liver.

“I was initially nervous about having to go to downtown for treatment,” said O’Brien, who lives in the suburbs of La Grange and worries about getting a coronavirus. “My family and friends offered to drive me, but I want to minimize everyone’s exposure.”

Although her treatment has not changed since the new coronavirus spread throughout the United States, 54-year-old patients are at increased risk of serious complications if they become infected. Despite the relaxation of COVID-related restrictions by the Governor of Illinois, these risks have not significantly diminished.

She is not alone in fear of the deadly combination of COVID-19 and cancer. One study, which reviewed records of more than 1,000 adult cancer patients who tested positive for COVID-19, found that 13% died. According to Johns Hopkins, that compares to a 5.9% mortality rate across the United States.

Many doctors worry that people are already depleting their immune systems, thus exceeding the concerns of cancer patients catching the virus, delaying scans and tests, and missing time-sensitive diagnoses. A KFF poll found that almost half of Americans skipped or postponed medical care because of an outbreak. Cancer patients seeking treatment face a variety of obstacles as the state reopens, including significantly restricted hospital appointments and pending new clinical trials. (KHN is an editorial independent program of KFF, the Kaiser Family Fund.)

“The cancer doesn’t care about the coronavirus pandemic,” said Dr. Robert Figlin of Hematology Oncology at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. “I don’t want to delay evaluation for people with abnormalities,” he said.

In late March, Megan-Claire Chase, 43, from Dunwoody, Georgia, was dismissed from his job as a project manager for a staffing agency. Medical benefits It was included. Her main concern was to pay for diagnostic mammograms and MRIs, but she remained on the calendar for two days before her interests ended. Currently in remission from Stage 2A breast cancerChase is a Breast Care Specialist in Atlanta who schedules scans every 6 months.

“When I got there, it was really disturbing. You feel like leprosy,” Chase said, pointing to a socially separate waiting room and a badly sanitized clipboard. Since the days of chemotherapy, Chase has already been very careful, putting his pen in a purse with gloves and a spare mask.

Cancer centers across the country are taking additional precautions. In Northwestern, patients were told that masks were poured through a single entrance that required them, and met by security guards and temperature checks before signing in at the reception sitting behind a plastic shield. Said O’Brien. No visitors or accompanying family members are allowed inside the building. The cafeteria and waiting room are free of unnecessary germ spreaders. I can’t see magazines or coffee machines. A cubicle where she received an infusion of Abraxane that was used to seat four patients. Currently only two people are sitting in the space.

When possible, many doctors use telehealth to limit cancer patients’ travel to hospitals. In Salt Lake City, Dr. Mark Lewis, director of gastrointestinal oncology at Intermountain Healthcare, a system of 23 hospitals serving Utah and the surrounding states, says that about half of the patient’s visits are now true. He says. He also treats some patients less strongly and less frequently. Like Northwestern, patients must arrive at a hospital solo for an appointment unless physical assistance is needed. This is a big change for Lewis. Lewis had a family of up to 30 in his office for appointments with patients for mental support.

“We’re writing the rules to keep the patient’s immune system in check and keep the cancer out,” Lewis said. Still, I’m worried about the sharp rise in cancer mortality due to coronavirus pandemics. of Coronavirus As an aside, the National Cancer Institute predicts that over 600,000 Americans will die of cancer this year.

Newer clinical trials are also coming to a major halt in this new era, when traveling longer distances for treatment is less of an option. Linnea Olson, who lives in Amesbury, Massachusetts and has stage 4 lung cancer, fears her treatment options are far fewer because her trial was her “lifeline”.

About four months ago, Olson, aged 60, participated in her fourth phase I clinical trial at the Massachusetts General Hospital Terme Center For Targeted Therapy. Treatment is accompanied by severe side effects such as mouth and throat pain due to mucositis, which is also a sign of COVID-19. Prior to a recent infusion, a nurse with a plastic shield carried Olson to the posterior entrance for a COVID test. That was negative.

The intensity of her treatment, coupled with the measures of extreme social distance, makes Olson living alone depressed, feeling uncertain whether she should continue the trial.

“It’s too much at once-quarantine and difficult side effects,” Olson said.

Rudy Fishman, Brain cancer A patient and once a true crime TV producer, he balances the problems that began after his first surgery two years ago. Daily walks and physiotherapy are part of his treatment plan. Still, the walk in Knoxville, Tennessee is already stressed as the state begins to open.

“It’s getting harder and harder every day,” said Fishman. “I don’t like wrapping around my kitchen, so I realize I have to change my route every day.”

Fishman, the father of two young children who are currently at home 24 hours a day, finds that all his family time is wasting his limited energy. He is also afraid of what germs they bring back from school.

“If I had the virus, would I get another standard of care?” he said. “I’m used to being new to being at home, but now I’m more nervous.”

©2020 Kaiser Health News
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