Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), as an undifferentiated group of adult multipotent cells, have remarkable antitumor features that bring them up as a novel choice to treat cancers. MSCs are capable of altering the behavior of cells in the tumor microenvironment, inducing an anti-inflammatory effect in tumor cells, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, and preventing metastasis. Besides, MSCs can induce apoptosis and inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells. The ability of MSCs to be loaded with chemotherapeutic drugs and release them in the site of primary and metastatic neoplasms makes them a preferable choice as targeted drug delivery procedure. Targeted drug delivery minimizes unexpected side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs and improves clinical outcomes. This review focuses on recent advances on innate antineoplastic features of MSCs and the effect of chemotherapeutic drugs on viability, proliferation, and the regenerative capacity of various kinds of MSCs. It also discusses the efficacy and mechanisms of drug loading and releasing procedures along with in vivo and in vitro preclinical outcomes of antineoplastic effects of primed MSCs for clinical prospection.

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Context: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused irreparable damage to society. The pediatric population may be asymptomatic but has positive viral nucleic acid test results and plays an important role in spreading the infection in populations. However, there is a substantial information gap on the epidemiology, pathology, and clinical presentations of COVID-19 in pediatric patients. Evidence Acquisition: English research articles published before April 18, 2020, were reviewed to understand the clinical characteristics of SARS coronavirus 2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in children. The WHO (https://www.who. int/) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/) websites were also reviewed to find eligible studies, besides articles extracted from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Results: In comparison with SARS and MERS, COVID-19 seems to have wider clinical symptoms and routes of transmission. Multisystem inflammatory syndrome is a unique clinical feature of this novel virus. The low prevalence of COVID-19 in children may be due to lower contacts or incomplete identification rather than resistance to the virus. Conclusions: As this virus is novel, we believe that lessons learned from SARS and MERS outbreaks are very valuable in handling the current pandemic. The aim of this paper was to provide the updated summary of clinical manifestation, diagnostic, molecular, and genetic aspects of the novel coronavirus in comparison with SARS and MERS coronaviruses in children.

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