Cancer datasets and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: establishing principles for collaboration

Abstract

Dear Editor, The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been a major disruptive event for the global oncology community. It has challenged and compromised the delivery of oncological care as a result of (1) the diversion of resource to support the care of acutely and critically ill patients with COVID-19; (2) a reduction in the number of highly trained staff who deliver such treatments due to sickness, self-isolation or family reasons1; and (3) concerns related to treating patients with cancer, given issues related to the potential risks of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 and the degree of severity of COVID-19 as a result of either innate or iatrogenic cancer-related immunodeficiency. The current peer-reviewed data regarding the course of COVID-19 in patients with cancer is limited to retrospective cases series of 11–105 patients with variability in the data reported2–6 and one study involving aggregate-level data from 334 patients.7 These datasets do not enable the identification of risk factors that might predispose to symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection nor do they identify those factors that predict for serious morbidity and mortality as a result of infection. Such information is urgently needed to inform the development …