Abstract

MESSOUNA Mohamed*, NDA Guy, MOSSE Wilfred, NTAMA Dauphin, LKHOYALI Siham, ICHOU Mohamed and ERRIHANI Hassan

ABSTRACT

Cancer is a major burden on the medical community around the world. Each year, tens of millions of people are diagnosed with cancer, and more than half of patients eventually die from it. In many countries, cancer is the second most common cause of death after cardiovascular disease. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), "one in five men and one in six women in the world will develop cancer in their lifetime, killing one in eight and one in eleven respectively".[1] The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, and the disease has now spread around the world to be declared a "public health emergency of international concern (USPPI). By WHO in March 2020. In an attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and drastic measures have been implemented in all parts of the world.[2] Nonetheless, these initiatives have had substantial collateral damage on medical issues unrelated to COVID-19. Several studies have shown that cancer healthcare has been greatly affected in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] In fact, the American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends conserving health system resources and reducing patient contact with health care facilities".[4] In our study, 54.5% of patients experienced a change in treatment protocol versus 45.5% who kept the same protocol. Among the reasons for this change in protocol, 38.4% were to be able to respect the barrier gestures while 16.2% of the protocols were lightened (dose reduction). 62.6% of patients in our series did not meet the time between chemotherapy courses while 37.4% did. 34.3% had not followed the intercourse because they were afraid of COVID 19, and 24.2% because of the lack of transport, 4% because of both causes. Further studies would be desirable in order to show the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the course of the cancerous disease since it is difficult to prove it exactly in four months.[5,6]