SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Possible Risk Factor for Incidence and Recurrence of Cancers

Abdollah Jafarzadeh; Rohit Gosain; Seyed Mohammad Javad  Mortazavi; Maryam Nemati; Sara Jafarzadeh; Abbas Ghaderi

doi:10.18502/ijhoscr.v16i2.9205

Abdollah Jafarzadeh Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Rohit Gosain Department of Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Elm and Carlton Street, Buffalo, NY, 14263, USA
Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi Department of Medical Physics and Engineering, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Maryam Nemati Immunology of Infectious Diseases Research Center, Research Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran
Sara Jafarzadeh Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Abbas Ghaderi Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, Shiraz, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijhoscr.v16i2.9205

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer; SARS-CoV-2; Immunosuppression; Inflammation; Oncology; Malignancy

Abstract

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.