sars-cov-2 infection: a possible risk factor for incidence and recurrence of cancers

Covid-19 and malignancy can affect the susceptibility of one another. clinically recovered covid-19 individuals display immune abnormalities that persist several months after discharge. the lymphopenia-related immunosuppression, functional exhaustion of cytotoxic lymphocytes (such as cd8+ cytotoxic t-cells and natural killer cells), hyperinflammatory responses, oxidative stress, downregulation of interferon response, development of the myeloid-derived suppressor cells, downregulation of tumor suppressor proteins and perhaps reactivation of the latent oncogenic viruses may directly and/or indirectly play a role in the cancer development and recurrence in severe covid-19 patients. sars-cov-2-infected malignant patients may be at higher risk of death of their cancer than sars-cov-2-uninfected patients with the same cancers. on the other side, the patients with some types of cancers may be more vulnerable to sars-cov-2 infection compared with the non-cancerous individuals, due to their immunocompromised state resulted from malignancy, chemotherapy, and other concomitant abnormalities as well as perhaps greater expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. sars-cov-2-infected cancerous patients are unable to produce an effective anti-virus immune response and may exhibit more severe forms of covid-19. this review described the possible impacts of sars-cov-2 infection on cancer development and recurrence, and the potential cancer impacts on covid-19 development, while the possible interventions are highlighted.