WVXU: Certain cancer treatments & COVID-19 could lead to death
Recent research shows combinations of treatments given at certain times could mean worse outcomes
A University of Cincinnati study found that cancer patients undergoing a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy one to three months prior to a COVID-19 diagnosis have a greater risk of death than patients who haven't undergone cancer treatment in the past year.
These findings were presented Saturday at the European Society for Medical Oncology Virtual Congress 2020.
Lead author Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at UC, UC Health oncologist and member of the UC Cancer Center, and her team analyzed 3,600 patients from 122 institutions across the country for this study.
"Any way you slice it, this is not good news for patients who are fighting cancer," she says. "Targeted therapies, especially those causing immune cell depletion, used one to three months before (the diagnosis of COVID-19) are associated with very high mortality, up to 50%."
Photo of chemotherapy courtesy of the National Cancer Institute.
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