Commentary: Should all cancer patients be tested for COVID-19 before each chemotherapy cycle?

Yekeduz E., UTKAN G., ÜRÜN Y.

JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY PHARMACY PRACTICE, cilt.27, sa.2, ss.450-452, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Editöre Mektup
  • Cilt numarası: 27 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1177/1078155220988753
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY PHARMACY PRACTICE
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, MEDLINE
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.450-452
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: COVID-19, cancer, chemotherapy
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Cancer patients under active chemotherapy are more vulnerable to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). There are still some controversies regarding routine polymerase chain reaction testing of asymptomatic cancer patients before chemotherapy cycles. Despite a lack of data, Al-Shamsi et al. showed higher COVID-19 positivity rate among asymptomatic cancer patients. Furthermore, mortality rate was higher in this group of patients. There is no high evidence-based recommendation from the cancer societies for testing asymptomatic patients before each chemotherapy cycle. In this commentary, we assessed the current publications and guidelines regarding this issue.