COVID-19 treatment: close to a cure? A rapid review of pharmacotherapies for the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)

Abstract

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Palliative care for cancer patients with severe COVID-19: the challenge of uncertainty

“…From our experience and published research, in most patients with solid and hematological malignancies, COVID-19 mortality was directly driven by older age, disease status, performance status, and by immune (e.g., neutropenia) parameters and level of inflammation (e.g., high CRP) [ 14 ]. Combination of antivirals, if considered, should be initiated before the peak of viral replication for an optimal outcome [ 15 ]. Further large-scale or multicenter studies are needed to compare the clinical features of COVID-19 disease between cancer patients and the general population and clarify whether the clearance of the virus and the recovery of COVID-19 are delayed in cancer patients.…”

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Induces Cytokine Storm and Inflammation During Coronavirus Disease 19: Perspectives and Possible Therapeutic Approaches

“…Among the other antiviral strategies, umifenovir (Arbidol) is a new antiviral option approved in China for the management of COVID-19: it prevents virus entry by binding to hemagglutinin (Aktas et al, 2020). However, clinical studies on umifenovir showed that the administration of umifenovir alone was ineffective, whereas the combination with other antivirals might ameliorate viral clearance and improve lung damage Song et al, 2020).…”

COVID-19: the epidemiology and treatment

“…Type I interferons (IFN-α, IFN-β) are broadly antiviral signalling molecules that stimulate key intracellular pathways and thereby impair viral internalization, replication and transmission while simultaneously promoting immune cell activation (Cinatl et al, 2004;Wang and Fish, 2019). While potent, interferon treatment can induce influenza-like symptoms and mood Review © 2020 The authors changes, and as such, it is not suitable for patients suffering from severe autoimmune conditions, poor mental health, seizures or decompensated liver disease (Song et al, 2020).…”