Status and strategies for the management of head and neck cancer during COVID‐19 pandemic: Indian scenario

• Published in: Head & Neck Vol. 42; no. 7; pp. 1460 - 1465
• Main Authors: Gupta, Anand, Arora, Vipin, Nair, Deepa, Agrawal, Nishant, Su, Yu‐xiong, Holsinger, F Christopher, Chan, Jason Y K
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Academic Medical Centers; Adult; Cancer Care Facilities - organization & administration; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; COVID-19; Disease Management; Elective Surgical Procedures - statistics & numerical data; Female; Head & neck cancer; Head and Neck Cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms - epidemiology; Head and Neck Neoplasms - surgery; Humans; India; Indian scenario; Male; Middle Aged; Oral cancer; pandemic; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Pandemics - statistics & numerical data; Patient Selection; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Safety Management - methods; Special Issue; strategies for management; Surgery; Surgical Oncology - organization & administration; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tertiary Care Centers; Tobacco; India; COVID-19; Indian scenario; head and neck cancer; pandemic; strategies for management
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.26227

In India, oral cancer is the most common head and neck cancer (HNC) in men, mainly caused by the consumption of smoked and smokeless tobacco. During the current pandemic, delaying surgery for even 1 or 2 months may lead to more extensive surgery or inoperability, where only supportive care can be provided. Being semi‐emergent in nature, treatment for these patients is currently on hold or delayed in most centers across the country. This study was conducted to assess the impact of COVID‐19 pandemic and inability of the health system to treat HNC in a timely fashion and how surgeons are coping to this emergent situation. This article highlights the situation in India, a country burdened with one of the highest incidence rates of HNC.