Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Head Neck. 2020 Jun;42(6):1332-1338. doi: 10.1002/hed.26187. Epub 2020 Apr 28.
In the context of COVID-19, cancer survivors represent a particularly vulnerable population that may be "doubly hit" by both costs of cancer treatment and financial strain imposed by the pandemic.
We performed a review of the literature pertaining to cancer, financial toxicity, and economic challenges.
Multiple societies have put forth recommendations to modify delivery of cancer care in order to minimize patient exposure to the virus. Cancer survivors, especially patients with head and neck cancer, have been disproportionately affected by rising unemployment levels and economic recessions in the past, both of which are linked to higher cancer mortality. Patients who rely on employer-provided insurance and do not qualify for Medicaid may lose access to life-saving treatments.
It is essential to implement interventions and policy changes in order to mitigate the effects of this pandemic but also to ensure this becomes a nonissue during the next one.
在 COVID-19 背景下，癌症幸存者是一个特别脆弱的群体，他们可能会“双重受到打击”，既要承担癌症治疗的费用，又要承受疫情带来的经济压力。
我们对与癌症、财务毒性和经济挑战相关的文献进行了回顾。
多个协会提出了调整癌症治疗方式的建议，以尽量减少患者感染病毒的风险。癌症幸存者，尤其是头颈部癌症患者，过去曾不成比例地受到失业率上升和经济衰退的影响，而这两者都与更高的癌症死亡率有关。那些依赖雇主提供的保险且不符合医疗补助条件的患者可能会失去获得救命治疗的机会。
实施干预措施和政策变革至关重要，不仅要减轻这一大流行病的影响，还要确保在下一次大流行病中不再出现这一问题。
