Full recovery of a stage IV cancer patient facing COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Autopsy & case reports Vol. 10; no. 3; p. e2020179
• Main Authors: Parmanande, Anuraj, Simão, Diana, Sardinha, Mariana, Dos Reis, Ana Filipa Palma, Spencer, Ana Sofia, Barreira, João Vasco, da Luz, Ricardo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil São Paulo, SP: Universidade de São Paulo, Hospital Universitário 2020; Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo
• Subjects: ANATOMY & MORPHOLOGY; Clinical Case Report; PATHOLOGY; COVID-19; Critical care; Treatment Outcome; SARS-CoV-2; Cancer
• DOI: 10.4322/acr.2020.179
• EISSN: 2236-1960

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first recognized in Wuhan, China, was recently declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Advanced age and comorbid disease, well-known characteristics in the solid tumor population, have been reported as risk factors for severe disease and death. Cancer-related immunosuppression and its treatments also seem to play an active role in the prognosis, response, and clinical outcomes of these patients. The most effective combination therapy for COVID-19 is still under investigation, and the use of corticosteroids is controversial. Although, as a group, metastatic cancer patients are often considered not to be good candidates for ICU treatment, the individual prognosis should always come into consideration, even in a context of high pressure on medical facilities. We report the case of a stage IV prostate cancer patient infected with SARS-CoV-2 who required ICU admission and recovered from COVID-19 infection. Further studies are needed in order to identify accurate clinical prognostic criteria and provide the best treatment for these challenging patients.