Systemic therapy for breast cancer during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Abstract

The global community is currently facing the unprecedented challenge of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. More than 1 million cases have been reported until now. Increased mortality is reported in patients who are older and have cancer and multiple comorbidities. Few retrospective analyses of COVID-19 in cancer patients showed a higher mortality of about 28.6%; additionally, severe events are more in patients who develop infection within 2 weeks of receiving anticancer treatment. Clinical data separately analyzing breast cancer patients are lacking. Until an effective drug/vaccine develops, the clinical management is supportive, and pandemic control lies in non-pharmacologic interventions such as social distancing, testing, tracing, isolation, and quarantine. These measures hinder the proper care of breast cancer patients in all the three domains of clinical care, education, and research. These desperate circumstances need desperate measures. In this review, we highlight the medical management of breast cancer during this pandemic. An adoptive strategy is the need of the hour to balance both cancer care and COVID-19 management.