COVID-19 cancer conundrum—evidence driving decisions or the lack of it?

Excerpt

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative pathogen of the COVID-19 pandemic, is characterised pathologically by inflammation, a feature considered to be a hallmark of another uncontrolled pandemic, “cancer”. Whilst these two diseases are separate entities with disparate aetiologies, they share some overlapping features—including multi-organ involvement, widespread inflammation, and a paucity of definitive treatment options. The pandemics are also comparable in their scale. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 18.1 million new global cancer cases and 9.6 million cancer-related deaths in 2018, with COVID-19 having 4.7 million cases and 316,289 fatalities as of 19 May 2020 [1]. There has been a decades-long drive to improve cancer outcomes, utilising the expertise of cancer researchers, epidemiologists, translational and clinical scientists, immunologists, statistical modellers, and health economists. The urgent, round-the-clock race to develop a vaccine or feasible treatment for COVID-19 is involving a similar multi-discipline effort. …