Does chemotherapy reactivate SARS-CoV-2 in cancer patients recovered from prior COVID-19 infection?

Abstract

Cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [1–3]. These individuals are not only more susceptible to this infection, but also more frequently develop severe pneumonia during the disease course [1–3]. One factor associated with an increasing risk for developing severe events in this population is oncologic therapy, especially cytotoxic chemotherapy. Therefore, some oncologists and societies recommend that chemotherapy should generally not be started until COVID-19 symptoms have completely resolved and viral testing becomes negative [3, 4]. Additionally, some cancer patients who have recovered from infection are recommended to withhold, postpone, or switch to alternative routes of chemotherapy ( e.g. oral instead of intravenous infusion) until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic [3, 4]. Recovered COVID-19 cancer patients remain negative for SARS-CoV-2 after delivery of chemotherapy <https://bit.ly/2QNTqO0> We thank Tian Tang (Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China) for her assistance in the study and we thank all patients involved in the study.