Breast Cancer Treatment Does Not Increase Risk of COVID-19 Infection or Death

Antineoplastic drugs that can weaken the body’s immune defenses are less likely to increase the risk of COVID-19 infection and death than breast cancer treatments that do not weaken the immune system, according to a new study. Researchers say the results challenge the initial concern that such treatments that poison cancer cells are too dangerous to continue during a pandemic.

A new study of more than 3,000 women treated for breasts, led by researchers at NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center cancer At the height of the pandemic in New York City, only 64, or 2 percent, were shown to be infected with the virus. Ten of this group died of COVID-19. According to the authors of the study, regardless of cancer, this age group is rare and expected.

In particular, people receiving cytotoxic or cell-killing chemotherapy are at about the same risk of coronavirus infection as those taking other classes of drugs, with minimal impact on the defenses of the immune system. was.

“Our results show that patients can safely receive breast cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, during a pandemic,” said Douglas Marks, Principal Investigator and Medical Oncologist at the Perlmutter Cancer Center. MD states.

“As long as patients continue to take reasonable precautions such as wearing masks and social distance, they should be confident in continuing their chosen treatment plan with their doctor,” said Principal Investigator. I will. Cancer Center Medical oncologist Sylvia Adams, MD.

Adams, a professor of medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, states that breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the United States, killing about 45,000 people each year.

Lack of information about the start of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 Risk factor COVID-19 infection in these patients led to delayed treatment. According to the authors of the study, many doctors are particularly concerned about giving a standard chemotherapy regimen, which can make patients more vulnerable to the virus. As a result, treatment was sometimes delayed or avoided.

According to Adams, a new study, presented online at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting on June 4, is the first to directly assess whether breast cancer treatment affects the risk of coronavirus infection and death. Is considered to be a large-scale study of.

To investigate, researchers reviewed medical records of breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or other medications at the Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York City and Long Island from February to May 2020. The researchers then analyzed information such as the degree of cancer, the presence of other illnesses, and survival as a result of the COVID-19 test.

In the research results, the risk of coronavirus infection breast cancer Patients who received chemotherapy were not at greater risk than those who received treatment that was not expected to interfere with the immune system. Treatment also did not increase the risk of death from COVID-19.

In addition, this study found that elderly and overweight patients Coronavirus infection, According to researchers, a finding consistent with previous studies on COVID-19 mortality.

Adams, director of the Perlmutter Breast Cancer Center, warns that the coronavirus pandemic is evolving rapidly and that cancer centers need to strengthen their infection control measures.

Marks, an assistant professor of medicine at New York University’s Long Island School of Medicine, says it is unclear whether these findings apply to newly emerging variants of the coronavirus that the research team has not yet investigated. Marks is also the medical director of the Cancer Clinical Trials at NYU Langone Hospital in Long Island.

---

---