Protocol for a Systematic Review Assessing Surgery versus Primary Endocrine Therapy in Operable Breast Cancer. Prep for Pandemic

Introduction

In COVID-19 pandemic epicenters cancer care was severely impacted. All elective and semi-elective procedures, as well as select urgent cases, were postponed in order to preserve resources and protect patients and staff from SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Structured decision making for breast cancer treatment resulted in deferment of surgery with initiation of endocrine therapy. Moreover, the waitlist for elective breast cancer procedures after mitigation is a challenge for prioritization.

Objective and significance

We aim to summarize the current body of evidence, comparatively evaluate oncological outcomes of surgery versus primary endocrine therapy (PET), and determine whether PET is a viable long-term alternative to surgery in the context of crisis management strategy for early, operable hormone receptor positive (HRP) breast cancer. PET could potentially be an acceptable bridging or maintenance therapy in select patients during pandemic crisis or for those choosing to forgo surgery in the treatment of breast cancer.

Methods and analysis

The database search includes PubMed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE (via Ovid). This systematic review includes women 18 years or older undergoing one of two interventions for HRP breast cancer: surgery (with or without endocrine therapy post-surgery) or solely PET. Studies comparing one of the two interventions of interest to a non-relevant intervention and studies reporting only descriptive data will not be included in the quantitative synthesis of data. After selection of eligible studies based on title and abstract, these studies will be further screened through full text articles by two independent reviewers, with a third as an arbitrator. Eligible studies will be critically appraised at the study level for methodological quality. Cochrane methodology will be utilized for meta-analysis.

Ethics and dissemination

This study does not require an institutional review board approval given its summary design nature. Findings of this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.