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The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is working with partners to assess the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on cancer and cancer prevention. Two recent papers, one a systematic review of literature on COVID-19 therapies and anticancer drugs and the other a study of the clinical characteristics of patients with metastatic prostate cancer who are infected with COVID-19, are examples of this international effort to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on cancer mortality and survival.
The literature review describes potential preferred treatments for COVID-19 and their interactions with the most commonly used antineoplastic agents. The study of the clinical characteristics of patients with metastatic prostate cancer who are infected with COVID-19 provides observations from a small sample of patients with prostate cancer in South Italy that seem to align with results from other regions of the world in relation to COVID-19 treatment, hormone levels, and options for the management of patients with prostate cancer who are positive for COVID-19.
These articles provide an important contribution for patients with cancer and the health-care professionals who are managing their care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Di Lorenzo G, Di Trolio R, Kozlakidis Z, Busto G, Ingenito C, Buonerba L, et al.
COVID 19 therapies and anti-cancer drugs: a systematic review of recent literature
Crit Rev Oncol Hematol, Published online 21 May 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.critrevonc.2020.102991
Di Lorenzo G, Buonerba L, Ingenito C, Crocetto F, Buonerba C, Libroia A, et al.
Clinical characteristics of metastatic prostate cancer patients infected with COVID-19 in South Italy
Oncology, Published online 22 June 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1159/000509434
