key: cord-0756479-ptq9j5lr authors: Codacci-Pisanelli, Giovanni; Giuliani, Jacopo; Bonetti, Andrea title: The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on daily oncology clinical practice date: 2021-02-26 journal: Crit Rev Oncol Hematol DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2021.103272 sha: a3b8d67ae1b159322a64492507021305adae378c doc_id: 756479 cord_uid: ptq9j5lr nan originates from different inclusion criteria (to give an example in the Veneto Region with 4.879.133 residents cancer survivors represent around 6% of the population while the new diagnoses affect only 0.6% of the population); this percentage is remarkably similar to the reported incidence of a previous cancer diagnosis among residents in the Veneto region tested for COVID-19 Table 1) , median age ranges from 63 years to 70 years (Lee et al., 2020) . Table 1 reports also the clinical features of COVID-19 patients with cancer based on a literature review on published case studies updated to 31 th December 2020, with the following key words: COVID-19, cancer. Second, we have to take into account the impact of the different types of anticancer treatments (immunotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and radiotherapy) on the prognosis of COVID-19 infection. An extensive review on the interplay between the huge array of anti-cancer treatments at our disposal, cancer patient's age, comorbidity and outcome of Covid 19 infection have been made (Turnquist et al., 2020) . Just to make a brief summary, some Authors investigated risk factors for COVID-19 severity and mortality in cancer patients who received an active treatment up to four weeks before getting infected by COVID-19 but could not find any predictive marker for increased The third topic is the follow-up of cancer patients who are NED (not evidence of the disease). Looking at patients visited during the last month at our outpatient clinics we saw that almost 30% were over-70 years old and we wonder whether it makes any sense to expose these persons to come to our clinics to bring normal blood exams, normal x-rays and normal ultrasounds. It also remains to be clearly defined the upper limit of patient's age to stop follow-up with its burden of medical J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f examinations and radiological evaluations (annual mammography for women who underwent breast surgery, surveillance colonoscopy after colon cancer also considering the discomfort of procedure and preparation. No limit is actually set, but we would suggest that 75 years (similarly to what applies to standard screening) is a reasonable age (Freedman et al., 2021) . The fourth point to consider is cancer screening. Many associations (generally in total good faith) have launched alarming signals on the devastating consequences of reducing these procedures. colorectal, lung). We should also consider that receiving chemotherapy not only means coming to the hospital 1-4 times a month, it also implies going to a laboratory to have blood tests. Cancer management during the COVID-19 pandemic: choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea Clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients: a retrospective case study in three hospitals within Wuhan Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with COVID-19 disease severity in patients with cancer in Wuhan, China: a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Italian Veneto region: adverse outcome in patients with cancer R; UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project Team (2020) COVID-19 prevalence and mortality in patients with cancer and the effect of primary tumour subtype and patient demographics: a prospective cohort study Patients with Cancer Appear More Vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2: A Multicenter Study during the COVID-19 Outbreak Clinical characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors for mortality in patients with cancer and COVID-19 in Hubei, China: a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study The immuno-oncological challenge of COVID-19 Cytokine storm in cancer and independent risk factor for mortality in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 Determinants of COVID-19 disease severity in patients with cancer The Rapid Rise in Cutaneous Melanoma Diagnoses Breast-Cancer Screening -Viewpoint of the IARC Working Group How the Coronavirus Disease-2019 May Improve Care: Rethinking Cervical Cancer Prevention Case 22-2020: A 62-Year-Old Woman with Early Breast Cancer during the Covid-19 Pandemic Cancer prevales on COVID-19: To maintain high quality standard concerning diagnosis and oncological care even during a pandemic