Elsevier

Lung Cancer

Volume 152, February 2021, Pages 98-103
Lung Cancer

Review
Cancer treatment in the coronavirus disease pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2020.12.012Get rights and content

Highlights

  • COVID-19 patients with cancer had increased risk of death and severe outcomes compared to those without cancer.

  • There is no conclusive evidence indicating that antineoplastic treatment aggravates COVID-19 disease

  • There was no significant difference in COVID-19 severity regardless of PD-1 blockade exposure.

Abstract

Half a year after its emergence, severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has resulted in a pandemic, with cases continuing to increase in nearly every country. Surges in coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) cases have clearly had profound effects on current cancer treatment paradigms. Considering the effect of antineoplastic treatment and the immunosuppressive properties of cancer itself, cancer patients are deemed to be more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2. Hence, the specific risk of SARS-CoV-2 must be carefully weighed against the benefit of antineoplastic treatment for cancer patients in the COVID-19 era. In this review, we discuss the current evidence in this important field, and in particular, the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on antineoplastic treatment.

Keywords

COVID-19
Cancer
Mortality
Antineoplastic treatment

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