O impacto da pandemia do novo coronavírus em pacientes oncológicos: uma revisão de literatura.

Abstract

COVID-19 is a new disease, caused by a betacoronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2. With an epicenter in Wuhan, China, the virus spread rapidly to several countries, having been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. It represents a serious threat to human life, potentially leading to respiratory infections fatal. The absence of specific vaccines and drugs for COVID-19 makes the virus even more contagious and dangerous. The authors of the articles that were reported in this review demonstrated that cancer patients may be more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, due to the state of immunosuppression caused by cancer malignancy. This literature review addresses the main impacts of the new coronavirus on cancer patients, through several studies researched in four databases (PubMed, SciELO, Google Scholar and Lilacs). It is concluded, therefore, that a closer look at cancer patients is of fundamental importance, especially in this pandemic moment.