Cancer and COVID-19: what do we really know?

• Published in: The Lancet Vol. 395; no. 10241; pp. 1884 - 1885
• Main Authors: Poortmans, Philip M, Guarneri, Valentina, Cardoso, Maria-João
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 20.06.2020; Elsevier BV; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Azithromycin; Betacoronavirus; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cardiovascular diseases; Cohort Studies; Comment; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Humans; Hydroxychloroquine; International cooperation; Mortality; Neoplasms; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; SARS-CoV-2; Viral diseases; Viruses
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31240-X

The mortality rate observed by the UKCCMP was probably due to the selection of patients who were admitted to hospital, underlying the need for data from patients without cancer from a matched population. [...]ending the observation after discharge does not capture the full disease trajectory. [...]for CCC19, by limiting observation to 30 days, and with follow-up data missing for 80 (61%) of 132 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), mortality rates are likely to increase. Whether the shortages of non-COVID-19-related health-care provisions will affect oncological and cardiovascular mortality is too early to predict.10,11 Finally, we must focus on improving future research, prospectively collecting all relevant data considering the specific local background, encouraging international collaboration, and setting a clear goal to stop, contain, control, delay, and reduce the effects of this virus at every opportunity, never forgetting that we will keep fighting together on behalf of our patients with cancer.