Victor Ho-Fun Lee, Marlinda Adham, Wala Ben Kridis, Paolo Bossi, Ming-Yuan Chen, Imjai Chitapanarux, Vincent Gregoire, Sheng Po Hao, Cheryl Ho, Gwo Fuang Ho, Danita Kannarunimit, Dora Lai-Wan Kwong, Ka-On Lam, Wai Kei Jacky Lam, Quynh-Thu Le, Anne Wing-Mui Lee, Nancy Y Lee, To-Wai Leung, Lisa Licitra, Darren Wan-Teck Lim, Jin-Ching Lin, Kwok Seng Loh, Pei-Jen Lou, Jean-Pascal Machiels, Hai-Qiang Mai, Ricard Mesía, Wai-Tong Ng, Roger Kai-Cheong Ngan, Joshua K Tay, Raymond King-Yin Tsang, Chi-Chung Tong, Hung-Ming Wang, Joseph T Wee
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to constrain health-care staff and resources worldwide, despite the availability of effective vaccines. Aerosol-generating procedures such as endoscopy, a common investigation tool for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, are recognised as a likely cause of SARS-CoV-2 spread in hospitals. Plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA is considered the most accurate biomarker for the routine management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A consensus statement on whether plasma EBV DNA can minimise the need for or replace aerosol-generating procedures, imaging methods, and face-to-face consultations in managing nasopharyngeal carcinoma is urgently needed amid the current pandemic and potentially for future highly contagious airborne diseases or natural disasters...
December 2022: Lancet Oncology