Characteristics and treatment of the oncologic patient in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic

• Main Authors: Claudia Suarez Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Collado Falcón
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana 2020-06-01
• Series: Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas
• Subjects: cáncer, enfermedad oncológica, coronavirus, covid-19, sars-cov-2.
• Online Access: http://www.revhabanera.sld.cu/index.php/rhab/article/view/3396

<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cancer is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. Numerous reports indicate how dangerous COVID-19 can be for oncologic patients.</p><p><strong>Objective:</strong> To characterize the oncologic patient and the treatment to follow in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Material and Methods:</strong> A bibliographic review, which included 37 bibliographic references in Spanish and English languages, was carried out. Pubmed/Medline, SciELO, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases as well as other official sources such as WHO and CDC were used for the search.</p><p><strong>Development:</strong> Oncologic patients have a compromised immune system. Polypnea was more common in oncologic patients with COVID-19 than in patients without cancer. There were no differences in relation to other symptoms; however, more severe lesions were found in CT-Scans. In oncologic patients, preventive measures must be reinforced and both chemotherapeutic and surgical treatment should be delayed as long as possible; however, the risk must be considered. All patients with cancer must be classified as high risk patients and those infected with SARS-CoV-2 will receive the same treatment than non-oncologic patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Oncologic patients have a higher risk of suffering from severe forms of COVID-19 than the general population; therefore, it is very important to take preventive measures that are not opposed to the administration of an adequate oncological treatment. Because of that, it is necessary to adapt the previously established protocols to the current situation the world is living.</p>