The National Comprehensive Cancer Network released recommendations for treating and preventing COVID-19 in cancer patients March 11.
The guidance is based on a review of more than 150 studies focused on the management of COVID-19 in cancer patients.
Three recommendations from the NCCN guidance document:
1. Patients who are not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should be tested 48-72 hours before starting cancer therapies such as CAR T-cell therapy, intensive chemotherapy, biological therapy, hematopoietic cell transplantation conditioning or invasive procedures. If positive, providers should decide whether to delay the start of treatment.
2. Ideally, COVID-19 symptoms should be completely resolved or markedly improved before cytotoxic chemotherapy is administered. In any case where chemotherapy or cancer treatment is urgently required to control cancer, it should be administered at the physician's judgement without delay, the NCCN recommends.
3. Monoclonal antibody products are recommended for outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk for severe disease (active malignancy undergoing chemotherapy, age 65 or older, etc.). Antibody therapies authorized for emergency use are not authorized or recommended for completely asymptomatic patients. If an asymptomatic patient tests positive for COVID-19, it's recommended to continue clinical assessment, and if symptoms develop, monoclonal antibody therapy may then be administered. If patients require hospitalization specifically for a COVID-19 infection, monoclonal antibodies are not recommended.
The full best practices guidance addresses more on who should be tested for SARS-CoV-2, which tests to use, how to interpret polymerase chain reaction cycle threshold value, when to adjust cancer therapy schedules, details on isolation and which COVID-19-directed treatments to use in different circumstances.
To read the full document, click here.