Caring for older patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Young International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) global perspective.

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected millions of people in over 180 territories, causing a significant impact on healthcare systems globally. Older adults, as well as people living with cancer, appear to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality, which means that older adults with cancer are an especially high-risk population. This has led to significant changes in the way geriatric oncologists provide care to older patients, including the implementation of novel methods for clinical visits, interruptions or delays in procedures, and modification of therapeutic strategies, both in the curative and palliative settings. In this manuscript, we provide a global overview of the perspectives of geriatric oncology providers from countries across Europe, America, and Asia, regarding the adaptive strategies utilized to continue providing high quality care for older patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through these perspectives, we attempt to show that, although each country and setting has specific issues, we all face similar challenges when providing care for our older patients with cancer during these difficult times.

Journal of geriatric oncology. 2020 May 10 [Epub ahead of print]

Isacco Desideri, Sophie Pilleron, Nicolò Matteo Luca Battisti, Fabio Gomes, Nienke de Glas, Nina Rosa Neuendorff, Gabor Liposits, Irene Paredero-Pérez, Wendy Chan Wing Lok, Kah Poh Loh, Clark DuMontier, Hira Mian, Enrique Soto-Perez-de-Celis

Radiation Oncology Unit, Department of Experimental Biomedical and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, 50134 Florence, Italy., Department of Public Health, School of medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand., Department of Medicine, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Downs Road, Sutton, London SM2 5PT, United Kingdom; Breast Cancer Research Division, The Institute of Cancer Research, 15 Cotswold Road, Sutton, London SM2 5NG, United Kingdom., Medical Oncology Department, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Wilmslow Road, Manchester M20 4BX, United Kingdom., Department of Medical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands., Medical Department V - Hematology, Oncology and Rheumatology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 410, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany., Department of Oncology, Regional Hospital West Jutland, Gl. Landevej 61, 7400 Herning, West Jutland Hospital Trust, Denmark., Medical Oncology Department, Consorcio Hospitalario Provincial de Castellón, Av. Del Dr. Clarà, 19, 12002, Castellón de la Plana, Castellón, Spain., Department of Clinical Oncology, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 102 Pokfulam Road, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong., James P Wilmot Cancer Institute, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, 14642 New York, USA., Brigham and Women's Hospital, 1620 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120, USA., Division of Hematology, Department of Oncology, McMaster University, 699 Concession St. Suite 4-204, Hamilton, ON, Canada., Department of Geriatrics, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Vasco de Quiroga 15, Seccion XVI, 14080, Tlalpan, Mexico City, Mexico. Electronic address: .