Brachytherapy during the coronavirus disease 2019 – Lessons from Iran

Abstract

PurposeCOVID-19 outbreak is not a short-time crisis, and discontinuing or postponing life-saving treatments is not logical. Brachytherapy is one of the important treatment modalities for some subsites of cancers. Therefore, we decided to consider some of the best feasible brachytherapy regimes during the pandemic. Methods and MaterialsWe considered brachytherapy guidelines and landmark trials and selected the most efficacious indications of brachytherapy, considering the best regimens to minimize the risk of exposure to the novel coronavirus. ResultsWe developed appropriate recommendations amid the COVID-19 pandemic for brachytherapy management of cervical, endometrial, breast, prostate, head and neck, and soft-tissue sarcomas. ConclusionsBrachytherapy provides an opportunity for the patients and the physicians during the COVID-19 outbreak; it can retain the patient's chance for treatment while limiting the chance of exposure and transmission of infection.