Are All Patients with Cancer at Heightened Risk for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-

Georgios Chamilos, Michail S. Lionakis, DImitrios P. Kontoyiannis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cancer patients are traditionally considered at high risk for complicated respiratory viral infections, due to their underlying immunosuppression. In line with this notion, early case series reported high mortality rates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with malignancy. However, subsequent large, prospective, epidemiological surveys indicate that the risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be largely attributed to the multiple confounders operating in this highly heterogeneous population of patients, rather than the cancer or its treatment per se. We critically discuss the conundrums of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients and underscore mechanistic insights on the outcome of COVID-19 as it relates to cancer therapy and the type and status of the underlying malignancy. Not all cancer patients are similarly at risk for a complicated COVID-19 course. A roadmap is needed for translational and clinical research on COVID-19 in this challenging group of patients.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)351-356
Number of pages6
JournalClinical Infectious Diseases
Volume72
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 15 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • cancer
  • immunosuppresion
  • malignancy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Infectious Diseases

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