Sex differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and the potential link to prostate cancer

Commun Biol. 2020 Jul 8;3(1):374. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-1088-9.

Abstract

The recent outbreak of infections and the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 represent one of the most severe threats to human health in more than a century. Emerging data from the United States and elsewhere suggest that the disease is more severe in men. Knowledge gained, and lessons learned, from studies of the biological interactions and molecular links that may explain the reasons for the greater severity of disease in men, and specifically in the age group at risk for prostate cancer, will lead to better management of COVID-19 in prostate cancer patients. Such information will be indispensable in the current and post-pandemic scenarios.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / therapeutic use
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use
  • Betacoronavirus* / physiology
  • Betacoronavirus* / ultrastructure
  • COVID-19
  • Comorbidity
  • Coronavirus Infections / drug therapy
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / immunology
  • Disease Susceptibility
  • Drug Repositioning
  • Female
  • Forecasting
  • Gonadal Steroid Hormones / physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neoplasm Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Neoplasm Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Neoplasm Proteins / physiology
  • Pandemics*
  • Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / physiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / drug therapy
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / immunology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Protease Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Receptors, Virus / drug effects
  • Receptors, Virus / physiology
  • Risk Factors
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Serine Endopeptidases / biosynthesis
  • Serine Endopeptidases / physiology
  • Sex Distribution*
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Virus Internalization

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
  • Antiviral Agents
  • Gonadal Steroid Hormones
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Protease Inhibitors
  • Receptors, Virus
  • Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A
  • ACE2 protein, human
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
  • Serine Endopeptidases
  • TMPRSS2 protein, human