This is the first systematic review to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on brachytherapy in patients with gynecologic and prostate cancers. Although many expert consensus recommendations have been published during the pandemic regarding radiation therapy, few studies evaluated its clinical impact on brachytherapy delivery and patient outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in treatment delays, omissions in brachytherapy, and further adoption of hypofractionated regimens. Early results demonstrate that despite increased toxicities, local control rates with hypofractionated treatment are similar to standard fractionation. The impact of the pandemic on gynecologic and prostate cancers is yet to be determined as well as the long-term outcomes on patients treated during the lockdown period.
Keyphrases
- radiation therapy
- high dose
- systematic review
- locally advanced
- prostate cancer
- coronavirus disease
- sars cov
- radiation induced
- meta analyses
- small cell lung cancer
- randomized controlled trial
- squamous cell carcinoma
- benign prostatic hyperplasia
- low dose
- papillary thyroid
- young adults
- replacement therapy
- clinical practice
- brain metastases