Perspectives on how to navigate cancer surgery in the breast, head and neck, skin, and soft tissue tumor in limited-resource countries during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The rapidly spreading coronavirus infection (COVID-19) worldwide has contracted all aspects of health systems. Developing countries that mostly have a weaker healthcare system and insufficient resources are likely to be the most hardly affected by the pandemic. Cancers are frequently diagnosed in late stages with higher case-fatality rates compared to those in high-income countries. Delayed diagnosis, lack of cancer awareness, low adherence to treatment, and unequal or limited access to treatment are among the challenging factors of cancer management in developing countries. Elective cancer surgeries are often considered to be postponed during COVID-19 pandemic to preserve valuable hospital resources such as personal protection equipment, hospital bed, intensive care unit capacity, and manpower to screen and treat the affected individuals. However, specific considerations to defer cancer surgery in developing countries might need to be carefully adjusted to counterbalance between preventing COVID-19 transmission and preserving patients 'long-term life expectancy and quality of life.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer surgery; Developing countries; Limited-resource countries.