Considerations for cancer immunotherapy during the COVID ‐19 pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) pandemic has led to fundamental reevaluation of the benefits versus risks of treatment in oncology. Immunotherapy has had an expanding presence in oncology, becoming a primary systemic treatment option in diseases such as melanoma, lung, urothelial, renal, and head and neck cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy, namely antiprogrammed cell death protein 1 (antiPD1), antiprogrammed cell death ligand 1 (antiPDL1) and anticytotoxic Tlymphocyteassociated protein 4 (antiCTLA4) antibodies, halt the negative regulatory checks of T lymphocytes, thus activating the immune response against tumours. Patients with cancer receiving these treatments are faced with a unique set of treatmentrelated toxicities driven by an autoimmune mechanism.