Coronavirus spread was rigorously increasing in countries and states, South Korea was one of them reporting the highest number of cases in between 20 February and 9 March, primarily Daegu city . As there was mayhem of the new disease everywhere, there were no predefined guidelines for the treatment of cancer patients during the COVID-19.
There were a total of 2295 breast cancer patients that visited the cancer centers between 18th February and 30th April 2020. Of these, 569 patients were such who received standardized treatment, including cytotoxic chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and targeted therapies. There were testing and screening done for 229 patients for COVID-19. All were negative except for two patients who were already undergoing trastuzumab treatment, reported a mild COVID-19 disease symptom and completed their treatment accordingly. The cancer Center focused more on individual hygiene and educating the patients to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection instead of changing the treatment strategy entirely coz there were breast cancer patients on prognosis. There weren’t any increased risk of infection in combination with active anticancer treatment, including cytotoxic chemotherapy, even during the pandemic in Daegu, Korea. Hence the Cancer centers expressed that breast cancer patients can undergo their planned treatment with minimal impact of COVID-19 , Whereas the active required measures would be taken against COVID-19.
https://www.clinicaloncologyonline.net/article/S0936-6555(20)30308-3/fulltext
