Elsevier

Advances in Radiation Oncology

Volume 5, Issue 4, July–August 2020, Pages 603-607
Advances in Radiation Oncology

Brief Opinion
Thoracic Radiation Therapy During Coronavirus Disease 2019: Provisional Guidelines from a Comprehensive Cancer Center within a Pandemic Epicenter

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2020.04.008Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 is an unprecedented pandemic with significant and evolving impact on the practice of radiation oncology. Radiation oncology departments must anticipate and account for coronavirus disease 2019 exposure risk for both patients and staff. The potential for severe radiation therapy resource constraints, particularly due to staff illness, must also be considered. Here we present provisional guidelines for thoracic radiation therapy adopted at our facility, a high-volume cancer center located in a United States pandemic epicenter. Generally, these guidelines reflect the principle that where evidence-supported hypofractionated schedules with comparable efficacy and toxicity exist, the shortest such schedules should be employed. In addition, we discuss potential adaptations in the prioritization and timing of radiation therapy for thoracic malignancies under these circumstances.

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Sources of support: This research was supported in part by NIH P30 CA008748.

Disclosures: Dr Wu has received research funding from CivaTech Oncology, Inc, personal fees from AstraZeneca, and travel grants from AlphaTau, Medical. Dr Rimner has received research funding from Varian Medical Systems, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, and Merck; personal fees from AstraZeneca, Merck, Research to Practice, Cybrexa, and More Health; and nonfinancial support from Philips/Elekta. Dr Simone has received personal fees from Varian Medical Systems. Dr Gomez has received research funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Varian Medical Systems, AstraZeneca, Merck, and Bristol-Myers Squibb and personal fees from Varian Medical Systems, AstraZeneca, Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, US Oncology, Reflexion, WebMD, Vindico, and Medscape and serves on an advisory board for AstraZeneca.