Document Type : Editorial
Authors
1 Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center (INIRPRC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
2 College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glascow, Glasgow, GB
3 Department of Radiation Oncology Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital Hines, Illinois. United States
4 Department of Radiation Oncology, Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, United States
5 Department of Radiation Physics, Technische Universität Wien, Atominstitut, 1040 Vienna, Austria
6 Department of Physics, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
7 Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute (NPI) of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), 18000 Prague, Czech Republic
Highlights
Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi (Google Scholar)
Lembit Sihver (Google Scholar)
Introduction
Cancer incidence is increasing globally. It is well documented that the incidence of most cancers increases with age [ 1 ]. Due to factors such as improved medical care, better hygiene, healthier life styles, sufficient food and decreased child mortality, human life expectancy is increasing at a rapid rate so that nowadays we can expect to live much longer than our ancestors who lived a few generations back [ 2 ]. Given these considerations, It is widely believed that increased life span is the main reason cancer risk overall is rising [ 3 ]. A paper published in the Lancet reports that delays in screening, diagnosis, and treatment due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to excess cancer deaths, and slow or even reverse the declining trend in mortality projected for some cancers [ 4 ].
Furthermore, the report by Harvard Medical School researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and colleagues from other institutions, suggests that COVID-19 has complicated the treatment for patients with cancer. “In patients with cancer, COVID-19 can be especially harsh. This is likely because many of these patients have a weakened immune system—either as a result of the cancer itself or the therapies used to treat it—and are therefore less able to fight off infection by the new coronavirus” [ 5 ].
In 2021, a research team led by Zhou highlighted the clinical and molecular similarities between cancer and COVID-19 and summarized the four major signaling pathways at the intersection of COVID-19 and cancer, namely, cytokine, type I interferon (IFN-I), androgen receptor (AR), and immune checkpoint signaling. They also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of repurposing anticancer treatment for the treatment of COVID-19 [ 6 ].
However, Professor Abdollah Jafarzadeh and his research team, in their paper “Review SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Possible Risk Factor for Incidence and Recurrence of Cancers” explored another aspect of the interplays of COVID and cancer. Their findings which are published in the International Journal of Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Research might shed some light on the dark corners of the potential interactions of COVID-19 and cancer development [ 7 ].
Jafarzadeh et al. reported that 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. Moreover, they reported that clinically recovered COVID-19 individuals display immune abnormalities that persist several months after discharge [ 7 ].
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 [ 7 ].
Conflict of Interest
None
References
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- Brown GC. Living too long: The current focus of medical research on increasing the quantity, rather than the quality, of life is damaging our health and harming the economy. EMBO Reports. 2015; 16(2):137-41. DOI
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- Dana-Farber Communications. Dana-Farber CommunicationsM; 2020.
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- Jafarzadeh A, Gosain R, Mortazavi SMJ, Nemati M, Jafarzadeh S, Ghaderi A. SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Possible Risk Factor for Incidence and Recurrence of Cancers. Int J Hematol Oncol Stem Cell Res. 2022; 16(2):117-27. Publisher Full Text | DOI | PubMed [ PMC Free Article ]
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