In the face of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, do people suffering from oncological disease need specific attention?

The new SARS-CoV-2 epidemic is imposing immense strain on the health systems in several countries. The few nations around the world that have yet to face the outbreak of the epidemic are gearing themselves up. The growth of the epidemic has led the WHO to recently declare the 2019-nCoV disease as a global pandemic1. Saving resources has imposed strict criteria everywhere to determine who may access diagnostic tests. But in cases where the healthcare systems are particularly under stress, we are starting to talk about the likely need of choosing which subjects group must preferably receive laboratory test, i.e., SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in oropharyngeal swab, in the event that a choice has to made when such treatment is not available for all2-4. This is a serious issue for doctors who are forced to make such a choice. Therefore, Italian national and international scientific societies have done well to start to indicate guidelines that will prevent doctors from being alone when faced with such an important decision.