What Experts Think About Prostate Cancer Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Report from the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2021
Authors: Fabio Turco, Andrew Armstrong, Gerhardt Attard, Tomasz M. Beer, Himisha Beltran, Anders Bjartell, Alberto Bossi, Alberto Briganti, Rob G. Bristow, Muhammad Bulbul, Orazio Caffo, Kim N. Chi, Caroline Clarke, Noel Clarke, Ian D. Davis, Johann de Bono, Ignacio Duran, Ros Eeles, Eleni Efstathiou, Jason Efstathiou, Christopher P. Evans, Stefano Fanti, Felix Y. Feng, Karim Fizazi, Mark Frydenberg, Dan George, Martin Gleave, Susan Halabi, Daniel Heinrich, Celestia Higano, Michael S. Hofman, Maha Hussain, Nicholas James, Rob Jones, Ravindran Kanesvaran, Raja B. Khauli, Laurence Klotz, Raya Leibowitz, Christopher Logothetis, Fernando Maluf, Robin Millman, Alicia K. Morgans, Michael J. Morris, Nicolas Mottet, Hind Mrabti, Declan G. Murphy, Vedang Murthy, William K. Oh, Ngozi Ekeke Onyeanunam, Piet Ost, Joe M. O'Sullivan, Anwar R. Padhani, Christopher Parker, Darren M.C. Poon, Colin C. Pritchard, Danny M. Rabah, Dana Rathkopf, Robert E. Reiter, Mark Rubin, Charles J. Ryan, Fred Saad, Juan Pablo Sade, Oliver Sartor, Howard I. Scher, Neal Shore, Iwona Skoneczna, Eric Small, Matthew Smith, Howard Soule, Daniel Spratt, Cora N. Sternberg, Hiroyoshi Suzuki, Christopher Sweeney, Matthew Sydes, Mary-Ellen Taplin, Derya Tilki, Bertrand Tombal, Levent Türkeri, Hiroji Uemura, Hirotsugu Uemura, Inge van Oort, Kosj Yamoah, Dingwei Ye, Almudena Zapatero, Silke Gillessen, Aurelius Omlin
Journal: European Urology (2022)

Patients with advanced prostate cancer (APC) may be at greater risk for severe illness, hospitalisation, or death from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to male gender, older age, potential immunosuppressive treatments, or comorbidities. Thus, the optimal management of APC patients during the COVID-19 pandemic is complex. In October 2021, during the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) 2021, the 73 voting members of the panel members discussed and voted on 13 questions on this topic that could help clinicians make treatment choices during the pandemic. There was a consensus for full COVID-19 vaccination and booster injection in APC patients. Furthermore, the voting results indicate that the expert's treatment recommendations are influenced by the vaccination status: the COVID-19 pandemic altered management of APC patients for 70% of the panellists before the vaccination was available but only for 25% of panellists for fully vaccinated patients. Most experts (71%) were less likely to use docetaxel and abiraterone in unvaccinated patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. For fully vaccinated patients with high-risk localised prostate cancer, there was a consensus (77%) to follow the usual treatment schedule, whereas in unvaccinated patients, 55% of the panel members voted for deferring radiation therapy. Finally, there was a strong consensus for the use of telemedicine for monitoring APC patients. PATIENT SUMMARY: In the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2021, the panellists reached a consensus regarding the recommendation of the COVID-19 vaccine in prostate cancer patients and use of telemedicine for monitoring these patients.