Considerations for Managing Patients With Hematologic Malignancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Seattle Strategy

JCO Oncol Pract. 2020 Sep;16(9):571-578. doi: 10.1200/OP.20.00241. Epub 2020 May 5.

Abstract

In January 2020, the first documented patient in the United States infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was diagnosed in Washington State. Since that time, community spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the state has changed the practice of oncologic care at our comprehensive cancer center in Seattle. At the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the primary oncology clinic for the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Consortium, our specialists who manage adult patients with hematologic malignancies have rapidly adjusted clinical practices to mitigate the potential risks of COVID-19 to our patients. We suggest that our general management decisions and modifications in Seattle are broadly applicable to patients with hematologic malignancies. Despite a rapidly changing environment that necessitates opinion-based care, we provide recommendations that are based on best available data from clinical trials and collective knowledge of disease states.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus / pathogenicity
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections / complications
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology
  • Coronavirus Infections / therapy*
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Disease Management*
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / complications
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / epidemiology
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Hematologic Neoplasms / virology
  • Humans
  • Medical Oncology / trends
  • Pandemics*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / complications
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / therapy*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Washington / epidemiology