Cancer and COVID-19: between a rock and a hard place, CEBM

Between a rock and a hard place, is an idiom referring to being faced with two equally undesirable alternatives and the dilemma of being stuck in a difficult situation where one needs to make a hard decision. This pretty much portrays the position of dealing with cancer amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Both, together, seem to have a synergistic effect on inferior health outcomes, where the damage caused by the existing conditions combined would be greater than each of them individually. A multicentre study during the COVID-19 outbreak found that cancer patients appear more vulnerable to COVID-19 and are at higher risk for all severe outcomes. Concurrently, another study suggests that cancer mortality could rise at least 20% because of the pandemic.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news