Chapter 13 - The effect of COVID-19 on cancer immunotherapy and cancer care

ABSTRACT

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, rapidly spread globally to become a devastating global pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) respiratory illness was initially reported in the United States in the state of Washington in January 2020. COVID-19 respiratory virus proved to be an extremely contagious illness with clinical features of fever, cough, dyspnea, malaise, and rapidly progressing severe interstitial pneumonia. Since the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 has been responsible for an unimagined level of deaths and socioeconomic disruption. The patient with malignancy and a suppressed immune system was, as expected, at increased risk for contracting COVID-19. Patients with cancer, when infected, had a more difficult clinical course and an increased rate of mortality. In the intervening 2+ years, much has been learned regarding the ability of the patient with cancer's immune system to not only fight the progression of their cancer but to effectively respond to newly available mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. As the pandemic continues, careful management of the vulnerable patient with cancer is essential.