BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a current pandemic. We initiated a program of systematic SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in all asymptomatic patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) at a large radiation oncology network in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan region and report adherence and results of the testing program. METHODS: Patients undergoing simulation for RT between May 18, 2020 and July 10, 2020 within the Levine Cancer Institute radiation oncology network who were asymptomatic for COVID-19 associated symptoms, without previous positive SARS-CoV-2 testing, and without recent high-risk contacts were included. PCR testing was performed on nasal cavity or nasopharyngeal swab samples. Testing was performed within 2 weeks of RT start (pre-RT) and at least every 4 weeks during RT for patients with prolonged RT courses (intra-RT). An automated task based process using the oncology electronic medical record (EMR) was developed specifically for this purpose. RESULTS: A total of 604 unique patients were included in the cohort. Details on testing workflow and implementation are described herein. Pre-RT PCR testing was performed in 573 (94.9%) patients, of which 4 (0.7%) were positive. The adherence rate to intra-RT testing overall was 91.6%. Four additional patients (0.7%) tested positive during their RT course, of whom 3 were tested due to symptom development and 1 was asymptomatic and identified via systematic testing. A total of 8 (1.3%) patients tested positive overall. There were no known cases of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from infected patients to clinic staff and/or other patients. CONCLUSIONS: We detailed the workflows used to implement systematic SARS-CoV-2 for asymptomatic patients at a large radiation oncology network. Adherence rates for pre-RT and intra-RT testing were high using this process. This information allowed for appropriate delay in initiating RT, minimizing the occurrence of RT treatment interruptions, and no known cases of transmission from infected patients to clinic staff and/or other patients.
BACKGROUND:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a current pandemic. We initiated a program of systematic SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in all asymptomatic patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) at a large radiation oncology network in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan region and report adherence and results of the testing program. METHODS:Patients undergoing simulation for RT between May 18, 2020 and July 10, 2020 within the Levine Cancer Institute radiation oncology network who were asymptomatic for COVID-19 associated symptoms, without previous positive SARS-CoV-2 testing, and without recent high-risk contacts were included. PCR testing was performed on nasal cavity or nasopharyngeal swab samples. Testing was performed within 2 weeks of RT start (pre-RT) and at least every 4 weeks during RT for patients with prolonged RT courses (intra-RT). An automated task based process using the oncology electronic medical record (EMR) was developed specifically for this purpose. RESULTS: A total of 604 unique patients were included in the cohort. Details on testing workflow and implementation are described herein. Pre-RT PCR testing was performed in 573 (94.9%) patients, of which 4 (0.7%) were positive. The adherence rate to intra-RT testing overall was 91.6%. Four additional patients (0.7%) tested positive during their RT course, of whom 3 were tested due to symptom development and 1 was asymptomatic and identified via systematic testing. A total of 8 (1.3%) patients tested positive overall. There were no known cases of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from infectedpatients to clinic staff and/or other patients. CONCLUSIONS: We detailed the workflows used to implement systematic SARS-CoV-2 for asymptomatic patients at a large radiation oncology network. Adherence rates for pre-RT and intra-RT testing were high using this process. This information allowed for appropriate delay in initiating RT, minimizing the occurrence of RT treatment interruptions, and no known cases of transmission from infectedpatients to clinic staff and/or other patients.
Authors: Derek Raghavan; Edward S Kim; S Jean Chai; Kevin Plate; Edward Copelan; T Declan Walsh; Stuart Burri; Jubilee Brown; Laura Musselwhite Journal: JCO Oncol Pract Date: 2020-04-20
Authors: Nicole M Kuderer; Toni K Choueiri; Dimpy P Shah; Yu Shyr; Samuel M Rubinstein; Donna R Rivera; Sanjay Shete; Chih-Yuan Hsu; Aakash Desai; Gilberto de Lima Lopes; Petros Grivas; Corrie A Painter; Solange Peters; Michael A Thompson; Ziad Bakouny; Gerald Batist; Tanios Bekaii-Saab; Mehmet A Bilen; Nathaniel Bouganim; Mateo Bover Larroya; Daniel Castellano; Salvatore A Del Prete; Deborah B Doroshow; Pamela C Egan; Arielle Elkrief; Dimitrios Farmakiotis; Daniel Flora; Matthew D Galsky; Michael J Glover; Elizabeth A Griffiths; Anthony P Gulati; Shilpa Gupta; Navid Hafez; Thorvardur R Halfdanarson; Jessica E Hawley; Emily Hsu; Anup Kasi; Ali R Khaki; Christopher A Lemmon; Colleen Lewis; Barbara Logan; Tyler Masters; Rana R McKay; Ruben A Mesa; Alicia K Morgans; Mary F Mulcahy; Orestis A Panagiotou; Prakash Peddi; Nathan A Pennell; Kerry Reynolds; Lane R Rosen; Rachel Rosovsky; Mary Salazar; Andrew Schmidt; Sumit A Shah; Justin A Shaya; John Steinharter; Keith E Stockerl-Goldstein; Suki Subbiah; Donald C Vinh; Firas H Wehbe; Lisa B Weissmann; Julie Tsu-Yu Wu; Elizabeth Wulff-Burchfield; Zhuoer Xie; Albert Yeh; Peter P Yu; Alice Y Zhou; Leyre Zubiri; Sanjay Mishra; Gary H Lyman; Brian I Rini; Jeremy L Warner Journal: Lancet Date: 2020-05-28 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Lennard Yw Lee; Jean-Baptiste Cazier; Vasileios Angelis; Roland Arnold; Vartika Bisht; Naomi A Campton; Julia Chackathayil; Vinton Wt Cheng; Helen M Curley; Matthew W Fittall; Luke Freeman-Mills; Spyridon Gennatas; Anshita Goel; Simon Hartley; Daniel J Hughes; David Kerr; Alvin Jx Lee; Rebecca J Lee; Sophie E McGrath; Christopher P Middleton; Nirupa Murugaesu; Thomas Newsom-Davis; Alicia Fc Okines; Anna C Olsson-Brown; Claire Palles; Yi Pan; Ruth Pettengell; Thomas Powles; Emily A Protheroe; Karin Purshouse; Archana Sharma-Oates; Shivan Sivakumar; Ashley J Smith; Thomas Starkey; Chris D Turnbull; Csilla Várnai; Nadia Yousaf; Rachel Kerr; Gary Middleton Journal: Lancet Date: 2020-05-28 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Coralei E Neighbors; Angie E Wu; Douglas G Wixted; Brooke L Heidenfelder; Carla A Kingsbury; Heidi M Register; Raul Louzao; Richard Sloane; Julie Eckstrand; Carl C Pieper; Richard A Faldowski; Thomas N Denny; Christopher W Woods; L Kristin Newby Journal: Am J Transl Res Date: 2022-08-15 Impact factor: 3.940
Authors: Christian Cornelius Arnold; Jens von der Grün; Mark Christoph Brekner; Jörg Licher; Emmanouil Fokas; Claus Rödel; Maximilian Fleischmann Journal: Strahlenther Onkol Date: 2021-10-07 Impact factor: 3.621