The COVID-19 outbreak has posed a unique challenge for oncology experts across the country — to balance the higher risk of exposure to the virus on account of the treatments and the risk of progression of cancer in their patients. To tackle this, oncologists are switching patients to less aggressive therapies, postponing surgeries where possible and are opting to individualise the treatment approach for each cancer patient.
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Since February, when the SARS-CoV-2 virus had already found its way to India, Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) in Mumbai began decreasing the intensity of chemotherapies in cases where it was possible. “Intensive cancer therapies result in decreased blood count, more immunosuppression and often requires blood platelet transfusions,” said medical oncologist Shripad Banavali of TMH. “These patients are thus at high risk of catching the infection,” he noted.
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Dr. Banavali, who is also the director of academics at the