COVID-19 Guidance and Programs for Desmoid Tumor Patients and Caregivers
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. Many rare disease patients are among the high-risk population and have been impacted financially and medically during the pandemic. The DTRF has curated the following COVID-19-related guidance and resources to answer questions and offer support to desmoid tumor patients and their families.
COVID-19 Vaccine & Booster Guidance
To help guide the community, the DTRF reached out to our Medical Advisory Board member, Rashmi Chugh, MD, medical oncologist and researcher at the University of Michigan Health System, for her professional opinion on desmoid tumor patients and the COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Chugh’s full statement is as follows:
“I urge the desmoid tumor community to protect themselves and their loved ones with the COVID-19 vaccine and booster if recommended by your physician. Based on available scientific evidence, there is no reason to suspect the COVID-19 vaccine would promote desmoid tumor growth or recurrence. The vaccine has been given to thousands of cancer patients safely, and the risks of contracting COVID-19 remain much higher than the risk of the vaccine. Please consider obtaining the vaccine and continue appropriate precautions so we can stay safe and continue the fight against desmoids together.”
Dr. Chugh’s research focus is on the development of new therapies in the management of sarcoma and desmoid tumors, conducting phase I clinical trials of novel therapies alone or in combination with standard cytotoxic therapy or targeted agents.
The DTRF supports Dr. Chugh’s assessment and we encourage patients and caregivers to bring any questions related to vaccines and boosters to your medical team or specialist.
Additional Covid-related Resources
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
To access the most recent information on COVID-19 (aka: coronavirus), we recommend referencing the following websites:
