Treatment of patients with lung cancer during the current COVID-19 pandemic is challenging. Lung cancer is a heterogenous disease with a wide variety of therapeutic options. Oncologists have to determine the risks and benefits of modifying the treatment plans of patients especially in situation where the disease biology and treatment are complex. Health care visits carry a risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the similarities of COVID-19 symptoms and lung cancer manifestations represent a dominant problem. Efforts to modify treatment of lung cancer during the current pandemic have been adapted by many healthcare institutes to reduce exposure of lung cancer patients to SARS-CoV-2. We summarized the implications of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of lung cancer from the perspective of different specialties of thoracic oncology multidisciplinary team.
The adverse effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are somewhat common but rarely life-threatening. Diagnosing life-threatening vaccine-related adverse effects is heavily dependent on history taking and ruling out the other possible causes. Vaccine-related complications vary, so awareness of possible complications can lead to efficient management. We present the case of a 58-year-old woman with a history of schizophrenia who received the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine and developed severe rhabdomyolysis. She required renal replacement therapy and fully recovered with possible transient autoimmune activity. This case highlights the importance of early awareness of adverse effects following vaccine administration and careful history taking and monitoring to avoid life-threatening conditions.
Anaplastic sarcoma of the kidney (ASK) is an extremely rare tumor, which usually presents as a large renal mass. Microscopically, the tumor is composed of pleomorphic mesenchymal spindle cells with marked atypia, associated with chondroid differentiation and focal round primitive mesenchymal cells. Herein, we present a case of anaplastic sarcoma of the kidney in a 3-year-old female, who presented with a large abdominal mass. To the best of our knowledge, less than 25 cases are reported in the literature. In addition, this is the first case reported from the Middle East.
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