cancers Review Cancer Management during COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors-Based Immunotherapy Harmful or Beneficial? Silvia Vivarelli 1, Luca Falzone 2,* , Caterina Maria Grillo 3, Giuseppa Scandurra 4, Francesco Torino 5 and Massimo Libra 1,6,* 1 Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy;
[email protected] 2 Epidemiology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori ‘Fondazione G. Pascale’, I-80131 Naples, Italy 3 Otolaryngology Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, Surgical and Advanced Technologies, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy;
[email protected] 4 Medical Oncology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Cannizzaro, 95126 Catania, Italy;
[email protected] 5 Department of Systems Medicine, Medical Oncology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy;
[email protected] 6 Research Center for Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy * Correspondence:
[email protected] (L.F.);
[email protected] (M.L.); Tel.: +39-320-1247-7937 (L.F.); +39-095-478-1271 (M.L.) Received: 8 July 2020; Accepted: 7 August 2020; Published: 10 August 2020 Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently representing a global health threat especially for fragile individuals, such as cancer patients. It was demonstrated that cancer patients have an increased risk of developing a worse symptomatology upon severe acute respiratory syndrome associated coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, often leading to hospitalization and intensive care. The consequences of this pandemic for oncology are really heavy, as the entire healthcare system got reorganized. Both oncologists and cancer patients are experiencing rescheduling of treatments and disruptions of appointments with a concurrent surge of fear and stress.