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

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. Dimple Chakravarty et al. review the rapidly emerging data indicating a higher rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in men. They note that men in the age group most at risk of infection are also at high risk of prostate cancer, and explore the potential links between these diseases and implications for COVID-19 treatment in prostate cancer patients.