Cancer Care Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

New cases of the novel coronavirus, also known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are increasing around the world. Currently, health care services are mainly focused on responding to and controlling the unique challenges of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These changes, along with the higher susceptibility of patients with cancer to infections, have profound effects on other critical aspects of care and pose a serious challenge for the treatment of such patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to provide strategies for managing the treatment of patients with cancer to limit COVID-19-associated risks at this difficult time. The present study set out to summarize the latest research on epidemiology, pathogenesis, and clinical features of COVID-19. We also address some of the current challenges associated with the management of patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide practical guidance to clinically deal with these challenges.

Keywords:

• coronavirus
• SARS-CoV-2
• cancer
• pandemic
• health care

Acknowledgments

This study supported by Proteomics Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (NO. 23193). The authors thank Dr. Emma Hennessy and Dr. Meghdad Abdollahpour-Alitappeh for their contribution to language editing and proof reading and Mr. Seyed Amir MirmotalebiSohi for his kind cooperation.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.