Coping With Oral Tongue Cancer and COVID-19 Infection.

Rita De Berardinis,Susanna Chiocca,Paolo Guiddi,Mohssen Ansarin,Marta Tagliabue,Gabriella Pravettoni,Giacomo Pietrobon,Fabrizio Mastrilli,Sara Ugolini,Francesco Chu

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.562502

Abstract

To date, April 19, 2021, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused about 140,886,773 confirmed cases and more than 3,000,000 deaths worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic. Oncology patients are usually frail due to the fear of prognosis, recurrence, and outcomes of treatments. Thus, coping with cancer is a complicated process that is necessary to overcome oncological challenge, even more in case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease. This is a brief case report on a middle-aged man affected by advanced oral tongue cancer and COVID-19, describing his experience of cancer diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation during the hospital quarantine for COVID-19. Besides the traumatic experience due to the functional alteration in breathing, eating, and speaking caused by major surgery and the concurrent facial disfigurement, our patient had to face a COVID-19 diagnosis, which implied hospital and social isolation. The aim of this perspective work is to focus on the role of the psychological support in the management of hospital distress related to COVID-19 psychophysical loneliness or alienation. In our experience, such support should anticipate patients' oncological surgery or treatment and should be implemented through telemedicine in case of isolation or after hospital discharge.

Highlights

To date, April 19, 2021, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused 140,886,773 confirmed cases and 3,000,000 deaths worldwide, since the beginning of the pandemic [1]
In the current international health emergency caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the whole healthcare system has been facing an unprecedented crisis: both medical and psychological aspects are continuously evolving
In some hospitals oncological treatments have continued despite the lack of places in intensive care units and surgical theaters due to the high number of severe COVID-19 cases [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]

Summary

INTRODUCTION

April 19, 2021, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused 140,886,773 confirmed cases and 3,000,000 deaths worldwide, since the beginning of the pandemic [1]. On March 9, 2020, the day after Italy was placed in a national strict “lockdown” due to exponential increase of COVID-19 cases, a 50-year-old male patient was admitted to the Division of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Division at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan for advanced oral tongue cancer treatment [15]. He had no history of smoking and alcohol habits and no psychiatric records. This clinical and social scenario exposes patients to a higher risk of psychological burden, as recently published [23, 26]

DISCUSSION

ETHICS STATEMENT