MO33-8 A systematic review of chemotherapy for breast cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic era

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 disease caused a large global outbreak and is a major public health issue. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy might have higher COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. However, there is still no data regarding this issue. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the mortality rate and COVID-19 infection risk for breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic era. Methods: This systematic review is registered at PROSPERO (CRD42020183725). A systematic search was performed on electronic databases, including PubMed, Pubmed Central, and Medrxiv. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality (NOQ) assessment of observational trials was used to measure the risk of bias in this systematic review. Results: A total of 555 articles were identified through the search strategy and 129 full texts were reviewed for eligibility. Ultimately, three articles were selected with a total of 177 patients. Based on NOQ assessment, two studies were graded fair and one study was graded poor. From included studies, the mortality rate of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy with COVID-19 infection were ranging from 0 - 10.34%. The COVID-19 infection risk was relatively small, ranging from 0 - 0.37%. Conclusion: The mortality rate of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy still cannot be concluded. The COVID-19 infection risk among breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy was relatively small. A larger study population and a longer follow-up period still needed to see whether the mortality rate is higher or not. Keywords: Breast Cancer, Chemotherapy, COVID-19.