As you know, cancer is a very broad word
and could encompass relatively minor cancer
with perhaps no implications or no difference
from someone who is otherwise healthy, with regards
to COVID-19, to a more extreme situation where
a patient with cancer might be facing a situation of more
advanced disease, or a treatment that might
be more immunosuppressive.
That is that would bring the immune system down more
than average.
And then, particularly in those groups of patients,
we might think of a different way to approach their care.
So we're getting a large number of questions at this point
from patients who understandably are concerned and want
to understand better what a potential infection
with COVID-19 might mean.
From what we know, infection with COVID-19
seems to be more difficult, more aggressive, and with worse
outcomes in people who are, in general, unwell
and of advancing age.
And what we're seeing is this is predominantly in older males
that we have seen the effect.
We don't yet understand all the comorbidities,
but what we're telling patients as we're
getting this questions, that until we know more
it is prudent for them to be extra cautious, and hopefully
through those behaviors prevent them becoming
infected with COVID 19.
So be extra careful with regards to the sanitation
of your hands, the good practice of social distancing
that we have all seen in the news,
and certainly try to avoid exposure to individuals
who may be potentially ill.
Furthermore, some treatments may affect different
how a person may be able to fight off an infection or not.
Some of the treatments that bring down
a certain type of white cells create
what we call myelosuppression.
That is that the neutrophils are down.
That is usually thought of to be more
important for bacterial infections.
Some other cancer treatments may affect more the way
our immune system responds.
And there's a number of cells there, like the lymphocytes,
so maybe that's more important for viruses.
But this is all speculative, because we really
don't have the information at this point.