Sars-cov-2 infection and lung cancer: Potential therapeutic modalities

Ishita Gupta, Balsam Rizeq, Eyad Elkord, Semir Vranic, Ala Eddin Al Moustafa*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Human coronaviruses, especially SARS-CoV-2, are emerging pandemic infectious diseases with high morbidity and mortality in certain group of patients. In general, SARS-CoV-2 causes symptoms ranging from the common cold to severe conditions accompanied by lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome in addition to other organs’ destruction. The main impact upon SARS-CoV-2 infection is damage to alveolar and acute respiratory failure. Thus, lung cancer patients are identified as a particularly high-risk group for SARS-CoV-2 infection and its complications. On the other hand, it has been reported that SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2), that promotes cellular entry of this virus in concert with host proteases, principally transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2). Today, there are no vaccines and/or effective drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Thus, manipulation of key entry genes of this virus especially in lung cancer patients could be one of the best approaches to manage SARS-CoV-2 infection in this group of patients. We herein provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the role of ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 genes, as key entry elements as well as therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2 infection, which can help to better understand the applications and capacities of various remedial approaches for infected individuals, especially those with lung cancer.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2186
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalCancers
Volume12
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • ACE-2
  • Coronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Inhibitors
  • Lung cancer
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • TMPRSS2

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sars-cov-2 infection and lung cancer: Potential therapeutic modalities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this