SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience
Patients with cancer are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19. As a result, routine SARS-CoV-2 testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer is recommended prior to treatment. However, there is limited evidence of its clinical usefulness. The objective of this study is to evaluate the value of routine...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Current Oncology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1718-7729/28/1/32 |
| _version_ | 1797520773533925376 |
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| author | Nicholas Meti Houman Tahmasebi Angela Leahey Angela Boudreau Alia Thawer Janice Stewart Paige Reason Kirsty Albright Jerome A. Leis Kevin Katz Matthew C. Cheung Simron Singh |
| author_facet | Nicholas Meti Houman Tahmasebi Angela Leahey Angela Boudreau Alia Thawer Janice Stewart Paige Reason Kirsty Albright Jerome A. Leis Kevin Katz Matthew C. Cheung Simron Singh |
| author_sort | Nicholas Meti |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Patients with cancer are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19. As a result, routine SARS-CoV-2 testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer is recommended prior to treatment. However, there is limited evidence of its clinical usefulness. The objective of this study is to evaluate the value of routine testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer. Asymptomatic patients with cancer attending Odette Cancer Centre (Toronto, ON, Canada) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 prior to and during treatment cycles. Results were compared to positivity rates of SARS-CoV-2 locally and provincially. All 890 asymptomatic patients tested negative. Positivity rates in the province were 1.5%, in hospital were 1.0%, and among OCC’s symptomatic cancer patients were 0% over the study period. Given our findings and the low SARS-CoV-2 community positivity rates, we recommend a dynamic testing model of asymptomatic patients that triggers testing during increasing community positivity rates of SARS-CoV-2. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:01:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c83aee2b60bd4823865c334d37be2992 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1198-0052 1718-7729 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:01:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Current Oncology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c83aee2b60bd4823865c334d37be29922023-11-22T11:28:19ZengMDPI AGCurrent Oncology1198-00521718-77292021-01-0128127828210.3390/curroncol28010032SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre ExperienceNicholas Meti0Houman Tahmasebi1Angela Leahey2Angela Boudreau3Alia Thawer4Janice Stewart5Paige Reason6Kirsty Albright7Jerome A. Leis8Kevin Katz9Matthew C. Cheung10Simron Singh11Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, CanadaDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaDepartment of Pharmacy, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaDivision of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, CanadaPatients with cancer are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19. As a result, routine SARS-CoV-2 testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer is recommended prior to treatment. However, there is limited evidence of its clinical usefulness. The objective of this study is to evaluate the value of routine testing of asymptomatic patients with cancer. Asymptomatic patients with cancer attending Odette Cancer Centre (Toronto, ON, Canada) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 prior to and during treatment cycles. Results were compared to positivity rates of SARS-CoV-2 locally and provincially. All 890 asymptomatic patients tested negative. Positivity rates in the province were 1.5%, in hospital were 1.0%, and among OCC’s symptomatic cancer patients were 0% over the study period. Given our findings and the low SARS-CoV-2 community positivity rates, we recommend a dynamic testing model of asymptomatic patients that triggers testing during increasing community positivity rates of SARS-CoV-2.https://www.mdpi.com/1718-7729/28/1/32n/a |
| spellingShingle | Nicholas Meti Houman Tahmasebi Angela Leahey Angela Boudreau Alia Thawer Janice Stewart Paige Reason Kirsty Albright Jerome A. Leis Kevin Katz Matthew C. Cheung Simron Singh SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience Current Oncology n/a |
| title | SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience |
| title_full | SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience |
| title_fullStr | SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience |
| title_short | SARS-CoV-2 Testing for Asymptomatic Patients with Cancer Prior and during Treatment: A Single Centre Experience |
| title_sort | sars cov 2 testing for asymptomatic patients with cancer prior and during treatment a single centre experience |
| topic | n/a |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1718-7729/28/1/32 |
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