Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 18, 2025

Analysis of Human T Cell Activity in an Allogeneic Co-Culture Setting of Pre-Treated Tumor Cells
Published on: March 7, 2025
COVID-19 in cancer patients: a systematic review
Carlos A Castañeda1,2, Miluska Castillo1, José Luis Rojas-Vilca1,3
1Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas, Lima, Perú.
Objective:
Development of severe disease and death from COVID-19 is more frequent in patients with comorbidities. Some studies report an increased frequency of severe COVID-19 in cancer patients. This review aims to describe the risk of infection and developing severe COVID-19 in cancer patients.
Materials And Methods:
A systematic review was carried out through an exhaustive search of literature in PubMed and Scopus until May 2020. A secondary search was performed to include more studies.
Results:
The initial search identified 2,192 records, which included 17 publications with at least 10 infected cancer patients. Also, 5 articles were added from the additional search of the references cited by those 17 publications. Ten publications were from Chinese authors. Data analysis showed that COVID-19 infection is more frequent in cancer patients, and frequent therapeutic visits to the healthcare facility may be the cause. The presence of neoplasia predisposed patients to develop severe disease. Advanced age, associated comorbidities, advanced malignancy, and the presence of serum inflammatory markers increased the risk of developing severe disease. Initial studies indicate that the use of systemic treatment may also be a predisposing factor.
Conclusions:
The risk of becoming infected by COVID-19 and developing severe disease is higher in the oncological population.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Survival Analysis
Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
Treatment Resistant Cancers
Cancer
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Cancer Vaccines
Cancer vaccines come in two categories: preventive (prophylactic) and treatment (active). Preventive vaccines, such as the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, protect against viruses that cause certain...

