Repository of advisory documents for cancer treatment during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
This resource is for clinical teams managing cancer patients. It has been made available freely for the benefit of clinical teams across the UK and around the world. As such it may be accessed by anyone be they a healthcare professional, patient or a carer or any other member of the public. The resources in the library have been written by and for clinicians and therefore, the language and context is not patient or public orientated. UK patients and the public should refer to the latest NHS advice on COVID-19 and to patient information produced by UK cancer charities such as CRUK and Macmillan. Please discuss any concerns about your treatment with the team who is treating you.
The aim of this virtual library is to facilitate national discussion and the sharing of expert opinion in order to provide guiding principles for the management of cancer patients in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. The documents are the collaborative work of oncologists and their teams. They are not RCR guidelines nor consensus statements. They are intended to be a useful, dynamic resource for the oncology community.
Cancer services will need to consider and adopt changes to their usual protocols and procedures based on local demand and capacity. Before implementing any changes, please discuss and agree them with your department colleagues, your wider site-specific cancer multidisciplinary teams and your commissioners where that applies.
The documents have a clear authorship and initial publication date. Please post via the RCR clinical oncology coronavirus (COVID-19) discussion forum (member login required) or email professionalservices@rcr.ac.uk if you wish to discuss any issues or give constructive feedback. If you would like to contribute new documents or know of weblinks that would be useful to include please contact professionalservices@rcr.ac.uk.
These documents will be updated as new information is available. Please check this webpage regularly.
This resource is a result of the dedication, flexibility and collaboration of oncologists and their teams everywhere. Thank you all.
Acute oncology | Breast | Bladder | CNS | GI: lower GI | GI: upper GI | Gynaecological | Head and neck | Lung | Lymphoma | Managing gaps in treatment | Melanoma | Non-melanoma skin cancer | Neuroendocrine tumours | Paediatric radiotherapy | Prostate | Sarcoma | Stereotactic radiosurgery | Thyroid
Managing gaps in treatment: extra guidance for COVID-19
- Timely delivery of radical radiotherapy: guidelines for the management of unscheduled treatment interruptions, fourth edition (PDF) (Existing RCR guidance published January 2019)
- Additional guidance on management of unscheduled radiotherapy treatment interruptions in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic (PDF) (Published 6 April 2020)
- Managing treatment gaps in radiotherapy of lung cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic (PDF) (Published 6 May 2020)