Gastrointestinal cancers, ACE-2/TMPRSS2 expression and susceptibility to COVID-19
By: Shafiee, Sepehr, Cegolon, Luca, Khafaei, Mostafa, Gholami, Nasrin, Zhao, Shi, Khalesi, Nasrin, Moosavian, Hamidreza, Fathi, Saeid, Izadi, Morteza, Ghadian, Alireza, Javanbakht, Mohammad, Javanbakht, Amin, Akhavan-Sigari, Reza

BioMed Central
2021-08-16; doi: 10.1186/s12935-021-02129-x

Abstract

Recent studies on the pathophysiology of COVID-19 are indicating that the Angiotensin convertase enzyme 2 (ACE-2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) can act as a major component in the fusion of SARS-Cov-2 with target cells. It has also been observed that the expression of ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 can be altered in malignancies. Shedding light on this matter could be crucial since the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with many gastrointestinal cancer screening programs. Herein we discuss the possibility of severe forms of COVID-19 in patients with gastrointestinal cancers due to the gastrointestinal entry route of SARS-CoV-2 into the human body. The disruption of cancer screening programs caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic could therefore have massive negative health impact on patients affected by gastrointestinal malignancies.







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