The
World Health Organization (
WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak to be a
pandemic on March 12, 2020. In
Korea, there have been 24,027 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 420 deaths as of October 3, 2020. The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 ranges from
asymptomatic infection to
death.
Cancer care in this
pandemic has radically changed. The
literature was reviewed. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it urgently necessary to profoundly re-organize
cancer patients’ care without compromising
cancer outcomes. Several important questions in regard to COVID-19
infection in
cancer patients have emerged. Are
patients with
cancer at a higher
risk of COVID-19
infection?Are they at an increased
risk of
mortality and severe illness when infected with COVID-19?Does anticancer
treatment affect the
course of COVID-19? Based on the existing
research,
cancer patients with
immunosuppression are vulnerable to COVID-19
infection, and
cancer patients are more likely to experience severe COVID-19. However,
chemotherapy and major
surgery do not seem to be predictors of
hospitalization or severe
disease. Korean background data on
patients with
cancer and COVID-19 are lacking. Prospective
multicenter studies on the outcomes of
patients with
cancer and COVID-19 should be conducted.