COVID-19 and Its Impact on Upper Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Management

• Main Authors: Shalini Fernando, Mesel Veli, Borzoueh Mohammadi, Andrew Millar, Khurum Khan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: Cancers
• Subjects: gastrointestinal; cancer; coronavirus; endosocopy; COVID-19; SARS-Cov-2
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/13/3/397

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, has left dramatic footprints on human health and economy. Cancer, whilst not an infective disease, is prevalent in epidemic proportions and cannot be pretermitted due to the impact of COVID-19. As we emanate from the second national lockdown in the UK with mixed feelings of hope and despair—due to vaccination and new COVID-19 variant, respectively—we reflect on the impact of the first wave on the provision on diagnosis and management of with upper gastrointestinal (UGI) cancers. This review provides a critical analysis of available literature on COVID-19 and its impact on cancer management in general and that of UGI cancers in particular.