Since its outbreak in December 2019 in China, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rapidly spread and affected several countries. It has resulted in a difficult situation for cancer patients owing to the risks of the epidemic situation outbreak as well as cancer. Patients with cancer are more likely than the general population to contract COVID-19 because of the systemic immunosuppressive status caused by malignant diseases or anticancer treatment. Lung cancer has the highest morbidity and mortality in China and the world. Most patients with lung cancer are smokers with poor underlying lung conditions and low immunity, thus it is vital to protect them from epidemic diseases during cancer treatment. It is necessary to provide individualized medical treatment and management of treatment-related adverse events for patients with lung cancer based on patients' conditions and regional epidemic patterns.
Thoracic cancer. 2020 Apr 14 [Epub ahead of print]
Zhe Zhao, Hua Bai, Jianchun Duan, Jie Wang
Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.