Alternative management for gynecological cancer care during the COVID-2019 pandemic: A Latin American survey

Rodriguez J.; Fletcher A.; Heredia F.; Fernandez R.; Ramírez Salazar H.; Sanabria D.; Burbano Luna J.; Guerrero E.; Pierre M.-E.; Rendón G.J.; Rosero I.; Trujillo L.M.; Ribeiro R.; Baiocchi G.; Lopez Blanco A.; Malca M.; Hoegl J.; Borges Garnica A.; Lasso de la Vega J.; Scasso S.; Laufer J.; Estrada E.E.; Gutierrez Criado A.; Herbert Nuñez G.S.; Cantú-de Leon D.; Medina G.; Pendola Gómez L.; Saadi J.; Noll F.; Arévalo Sandoval D.; Ferreira Oliveira A.; Pareja R. · International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (2020) · DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.13272

Resumen

Objective: To determine the acceptance rate of treatment alternatives for women with either preinvasive conditions or gynecologic cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic among Latin American gynecological cancer specialists. Methods: Twelve experts in gynecological cancer designed an electronic survey, according to recommendations from international societies, using an online platform. The survey included 22 questions on five topics: consultation care, preinvasive cervical pathology, and cervical, ovarian, and endometrial cancer. The questionnaire was distributed to 1052 specialists in 14 Latin American countries. A descriptive analysis was carried out using statistical software. Results: A total of 610 responses were received, for an overall response rate of 58.0%. Respondents favored offering teleconsultation as triage for post-cancer treatment follow-up (94.6%), neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer (95.6%), and total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and defining adjuvant treatment with histopathological features in early stage endometrial cancer (85.4%). Other questions showed agreement rates of over 64%, except for review of pathology results in person and use of upfront concurrent chemoradiation for early stage cervical cancer (disagreement 56.4% and 58.9%, respectively). Conclusion: Latin American specialists accepted some alternative management strategies for gynecological cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may reflect the region’s particularities. The COVID-19 pandemic led Latin American specialists to accept alternative management strategies for gynecological cancer care, especially regarding surgical decisions.