Editorial

Shortly after I finished delivering a keynote lecture on minor salivary gland cancers on February 23, 2020 at the Candiolo Cancer Institute in Turin, Italy, the conference chairs Drs. Giovanni Succo and Piero Nicolai announced that the conference was urgently adjourned and the rest of the program canceled. This unexpected announcement was in compliance with the Italian government’s orders to immediately end all public gatherings. Two days earlier as I set out to travel to Italy, where no cases of coronavirus infection had yet been reported, news reports were focused mostly on South Korea and Iran as hotspots of COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, I double-checked again before leaving for the airport and confirmed that Italy had no reported cases. Upon my arrival in Turin I was greeted by the usual warm welcome and well-known hospitality of our Italian colleagues. At the welcome reception they discussed the earlier morning report of the first five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lombardy region and its capital Milan. The next day, as the unplanned adjournment was announced on the first day of the 3-day conference, there were more than 120 reported cases ushering what would be the first significant outbreak in Europe. The conference chair read the Italian government emergency prohibition of public gatherings, canceling the Milan fashion week, the Venice carnival, and closing all schools and universities. But when he announced that the football (aka Soccer) game was canceled I knew that the situation was grave. As most of us know it almost takes an act of God to cancel a football game in Italy! Without delay I scrambled to get a flight back home only 24 hours after I arrived in Turin. On my way to the airport I saw on my news app that France had stopped a train of passengers from Italy and diverted it back. I was concerned about my connection in Frankfurt and ultimately getting back to USA. As I passed every step of screening and temperature checks I finally landed in Houston with a huge sigh of relief. Following instructions that were urgently sent that day, I immediately contacted our employee health at MD Anderson where I was carefully screened and cleared to go back to work.