The COVID 19 Pandemic and Colorectal Cancer: 5W1H - What Should We Do to Whom, When, Why, Where and How?

Abstract

The treatment of colorectal cancer, which is an important cause of cancer related death and is still an important public health problem, has become a matter of debate due to the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in December 2019. This pandemic has forced us to rearrange our entire surgical practice. However, during these arrangements it should be ensured that patients are less affected by the pandemic, hospital resources should be used more efficiently and the risk of healthcare professionals should be minimized. This study discusses how to plan the multimodal treatment of colorectal cancer during the pandemic by using surgical, chemotherapeutic, and radiotherapeutic options while evaluating tailored treatments and the current international guidelines.

Keywords

• colorectal cancer
• covid-19
• pandemic
• sars-cov-2