Researchers outline recommendations for testing patients with lung cancer for COVID-19 in Annals of Oncology, as reported in Cancer Network.
Though all types of malignancies appear to be associated with high COVID-19 prevalence, morbidity, and mortality, patients with lung cancer represent specific cumulative risk factors for COVID-19 complications, including older age, significant cardiovascular and respiratory co-morbidities, smoking-related lung damage, as well as treatment-related immune impairment or suppression.
“Defective pulmonary architecture from mechanical tumor obstruction or previous lung surgery may also predispose to infection,” the authors wrote. “Changes in the anatomy of airway and pulmonary tissue lead to intra- and peri-tumoral microenvironment alteration, which may secondarily affect immune cell infiltration characterized by an increase in macrophages and inflammation.”
Read more from Cancer Network and find the recommendations in Annals of Oncology.
