Tumor Treating Fields for Glioblastoma Therapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Frontiers in Oncology

Na Tosha N. Gatson¹  Jill Barnholtz-Sloan²  Vinay K. Puduvalli³  Eric T. Wong⁴  Andreas F. Hottinger⁵  Roger Henriksson⁶  Carol Kruchko⁷  David D. Tran⁸  Martin Glas^1,10  Piet Hinoul^1,11  Jan Drappatz^1,12 

[1] Cancer Institutes, Danville, PA &Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, Scranton, PA, United States;Oncology at the University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden;Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland;Research and Education, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, United States;;Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine &;Department of Radiation Sciences &;Departments of Clinical Neurosciences &;Division of Neuro-Oncology, Department of Neurology, Geisinger Health, Neuroscience &Global Medical Affairs, Novocure Inc., New York, NY, United States;Hillman Cancer Center, Department of Medicine and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States;Neuro-Oncology, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States;

关键词: COVID-19;    tumor treating fields;    glioblastoma;    recurrent glioblastoma;    elderly;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fonc.2021.679702

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has placed excessive strain on health care systems and is especially evident in treatment decision-making for cancer patients. Glioblastoma (GBM) patients are among the most vulnerable due to increased incidence in the elderly and the short survival time. A virtual meeting was convened on May 9, 2020 with a panel of neuro-oncology experts with experience using Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields). The objective was to assess the risk-to-benefit ratio and provide guidance for using TTFields in GBM during the COVID-19 pandemic.Panel DiscussionTopics discussed included support and delivery of TTFields during the COVID-19 pandemic, concomitant use of TTFields with chemotherapy, and any potential impact of TTFields on the immune system in an intrinsically immunosuppressed GBM population. Special consideration was given to TTFields' use in elderly patients and in combination with radiotherapy regimens. Finally, the panel discussed the need to better capture data on COVID-19–positive brain tumor patients to analyze longitudinal outcomes and changes in treatment decision-making during the pandemic.Expert OpinionTTFields is a portable home-use device which can be managed via telemedicine and safely used in GBM patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. TTFields has no known immunosuppressive effects which is important during a crisis where other treatment methods might be limited, especially for elderly patients with multiple co-morbidities. It is too early to estimate the full impact of COVID-19 on the global healthcare system and on patient outcomes and the panel strongly recommended collaboration with existing cancer COVID-19 registries to follow CNS tumor patients.

【 授权许可】

Unknown