KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As testing capacity for COVID-19 expands at the University of Kansas Health System, cancer patients are being added to the list for COVID-19 testing.
Patients being treated at all University of Kansas Health System facilities, including the KU Cancer Center as well as hospitals in Topeka and other rural areas, are being asked to submit to the COVID-19 test.
Dr. Terry Tsue, vice president of Clinical Services and physician in chief at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, said that it is known from the experiences in Wuhan, China, and Europe that cancer patients are “uniquely vulnerable” to COVID-19.
"They have twice the infection rates,” Tsue said. “About 38 percent of patients that get infected with the coronavirus actually have severe events and higher mortality rates.”
The University of Kansas Health System is asking all of its cancer patients to be tested for the coronavirus. The KU Cancer Center and hospitals in Topeka and other rural areas are included.
The tests would be administered before surgery, before radiation and before each cycle of chemotherapy. Tsue said that patients testing positive helps protect the medical team and changes the cancer patient's treatment plan.
When testing began weeks ago, inpatients and employees who showed symptoms were tested. Expectant mothers with planned caesarean sections were added as well.
