IACH 2021 | Impacts of COVID-19 on transplantation and CAR-T procedures
Anna Sureda, MD, PhD, of the Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain, comments on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of patients with hematological malignancies who are receiving allogeneic stem cell transplantation or chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells. Dr Sureda explains that due to an increased demand on medical professionals in the COVID-19 sector, there were less human resources available for patients needing cellular therapies. In addition, the transportation of unrelated progenitors was heavily disrupted and thus the number of potential donors decreased. Dr Sureda also highlights the importance of considering the risk associated with COVID-19 infection whilst being treated with cellular therapies. This interview took place at the 4th Annual Meeting of the International Academy for Clinical Hematology (IACH), which took place virtually in 2021.
