New European studies reveal COVID-19 and cancer insights | Imperial News

A large-scale imperial study revealed valuable insights into the impact and risk factors of COVID-19 in cancer patients.

Investigation resultFrom about 900 cancer patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infections in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Germany, many important clinical insights have been highlighted, including:

• The average mortality rate for cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 was 33.6%
• Men, older adults, and patients with pre-existing conditions were more likely to have worse COVID-19 results
• Continuous chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatment had little effect on COVID-19 severity or survival
• The use of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine appeared to have a beneficial effect on patients
• In the UK, COVID-19 cancer patients have the highest mortality rate and the highest incidence of hospital-based SARS-CoV-2 infections.

According to the authors, the study uses demographic factors to provide evidence to identify cancer patients at highest risk for COVID-19, which could further protect them. They also add that there is a need for further research on the emergence of COVID-19 treatment in patients with cancers infected with hydroxychloroquine.

Dr. David PinatoFrom Surgery and cancer department The principal investigator of this study at Imperial College London said:

Our findings show that the UK has the highest mortality rate for cancer patients with COVID-19 Dr. David Pinato Research author

During the pandemic stage, cancer patients were identified as a high-risk, vulnerable group. In the UK, this affected access to cancer treatment. Concerns about the safe delivery of treatment during a pandemic have forced clinicians to make difficult decisions to postpone, modify, or discontinue active anti-cancer therapies. Most of these recommendations have so far been based on the precautionary principle rather than solid evidence. “

“Minimizing in-hospital health care services, according to a study in the UK showing that COVID-19 cancer patients have the highest mortality and highest hospital-based SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in the UK It suggests that clinical services need to continue to be adapted for infections. infections.”

“Our research also suggests that the use of anti-cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy does not appear to increase the risk of death from COVID-19. It often means that cancer treatments can be safely used during a pandemic, depending on your individual situation and risk factors.”

Findings recently published in the journal Cancer discovery..

Mortality

OnCovid A multicenter study led by researchers at Imperial College London in collaboration with teams from Spain, Italy and Germany to investigate the consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection in European cancer patients.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, data has been collected from a total of 890 cancer patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the field. Patients have different types of cancer, with an average time from initial diagnosis of cancer to COVID-19 of 17 months, 56% of whom were men and the average age was 68.

During analysis (11^Th In May, 299 patients (33.6%) died, 22 (2.5%) were “hospital survivors” of COVID-19, and 569 (63.9%) were discharged.

The main findings were the UK with the highest mortality rate of 44.4%, followed by Italy with 33.2% and Spain with 29.6%, with a German sample size of only 6 patients.

Three-quarters of all patients have pre-existing conditions, the most common being hypertension (43.4%), cardiovascular disease (21.3%) and diabetes (20.3%), which account for nearly half of all patients (46.2%). ) With one or more comorbidities.

Older male patients are more likely to have worse results

Although the majority of patients were treated in the ward (86.4%), 14.5% of patients needed more intensive care and a proportion of patients (13.6%) were self-isolated and managed at home. Most patients (63.5%) developed at least one complication from COVID-19. The most common is acute respiratory failure, and increased numbers of complications were associated with increased mortality.

Older male patients are likely to have worse outcomes, and breast cancer patients have the lowest mortality rates compared to other cancers.

The findings suggest that looking at different patient characteristics and health histories at the clinic helps researchers stratify cancer patients based on risk, and the potential for more individualized treatments, the researchers say. Suggest that you can provide.

Antimalarial drugs may reduce mortality

The team also evaluated the impact of multiple emerging drug therapies towards COVID-19, including antivirals, antimalarials (chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine), and the targeted antirheumatic drug tocilizumab.

Statistical analysis suggested that exposure to anti-malarial drugs alone was associated with a significant reduction in mortality from COVID-19 compared to patients who did not receive anti-covid-19 therapy.

Dr. Pinato added: “Our findings about antimalarials are intriguing, in contrast to previous studies of cancer patients with COVID-19, because they showed a net reduction in mortality from exposure to hydroxychloroquine. More research is needed in this at-risk group. Two clinical studies suggesting that hydroxychloroquine may exacerbate mortality have recently been withdrawn, so the clinical value of antimalarial drugs is under intense debate. Given the focus, further prospective research on this is particularly important.

“Primarily, this study emphasizes the clinical use of demographic factors to stratify patients based on risk. However, it also in patients with cancers infected with SARS-Cov-2. It also indicates that more research is needed on new anti-COVID-19 treatments such as hydroxychloroquine.

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“Clinical features of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in European cancer patients‘By David Pinato and others. It is published in the journal Cancer Discovery. DOI: 10.1158 / 2159-8290.CD-20-0773