Systemic Anticancer therapy in cancer patients alters Covid-19 outcomes: JAMA

Recent active cancer based research suggests that current systemic anticancer therapies (SACTs) are not related with inferior COVID-19 infection outcomes. This study was conducted by Csilla Várnai and team, the findings of this study were published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

To offer evidence of the connection of recent cancer therapy and cancer type with COVID-19 mortality, large cohorts of individuals with current malignancies and COVID-19 infection are required. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine if systemic anticancer therapies, tumor subtypes, patient demographic parameters (age and gender), and comorbidities are linked with COVID-19 mortality.

The UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) is a prospective cohort study of adult patients (18 years) with current cancer and a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 that was done at 69 UK cancer facilities. This study includes patients who were registered between March 18 and August 1, 2020. Patients with SACT, tumor subtypes, patient demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, BMI, race and ethnicity, smoking history), and comorbidities were all studied. The primary outcome was all-cause death during the first stay.

The key findings of this study are as follow:

1. Overall, 2515 of the 2786 patients enrolled in the trial were included; 1464 (58%) were men, and the median (IQR) age was 72 (62-80) years.

2. The death rate was 38%. (966 patients). The findings point to a link between greater mortality in patients with hematological malignant neoplasms, regardless of recent SACT, notably in those with acute leukemias, myelodysplastic syndrome, myeloma, or plasmacytoma.

3. Lung cancer was also linked to an increased risk of COVID-19-related death.

4. After controlling for the important variables of age, gender, and comorbidities, no link between greater mortality and having chemotherapy in the four weeks preceding COVID-19 diagnosis was discovered.

5. There was a link found between getting immunotherapy four weeks before being diagnosed with COVID-19 and a decreased death rate.

In conclusion, while patients with cancer had worse COVID-19 outcomes than other persons with COVID-19 in this study, the difference in result may be due to age, gender, comorbidities, and disease subtype rather than anticancer therapy. Recent treatment was not linked to all-cause death, however it was linked to less severe COVID-19 symptoms and decreased mortality.

Reference:

Várnai C, Palles C, Arnold R, et al. Mortality Among Adults With Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy or Immunotherapy and Infected With COVID-19. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(2):e220130. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.0130