View source for Section 1: Introduction (from DOI: 10.1016/j.adro.2020.04.015)

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<b>From publication:</b> "Need for Caution in the Diagnosis of Radiation Pneumonitis in the COVID-19 Pandemic" published as Adv Radiat Oncol; 2020 May 05. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2020.04.015 <br><br><h3><u>Section 1: Introduction</u></h3><p><h3><u>Section 1:Introduction:</u></h3></p><p>The coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant global mortality. Early published reports have found patients with cancer to be disproportionately affected with nearly 40% requiring mechanical ventilation, ICU admission or death from COVID-19. Furthermore, data also suggest patients with lung cancer to be more susceptible to COVID-19 infection. Radiation pneumonitis (RP) is a well-described toxicity of thoracic radiotherapy that can cause significant morbidity and has an incidence ranging up to 40% in patients with lung cancer.</p><p>The overlapping clinical and imaging features of RP and COVID-19-induced pulmonary disease require attention by providers to prevent misdiagnoses and poor outcomes, particularly since the treatment of these two pathologies are substantially different. Herein, we review patients who presented with symptoms consistent with RP at our tertiary cancer center located in the New York City metropolitan area, an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first month of our regional epidemic. We report on their clinical course and COVID-19 testing results, and offer recommendations to providers on the management of RP as this pandemic continues.</p>