Chemotherapy in cancer patients with Covid-19 ‘no risk’

Continuing chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer patients with Covid-19 is not at risk for their survival, a study suggests.

It also recommends further research into the drug hydroxychloroquine, which appears to benefit some patients.

The findings, from 890 infected cancer patients in the UK, Spain, Italy and Germany, could help identify who is most at risk from coronavirus.

Breast cancer patients had half the deaths of other patients.

The researchers at Imperial College London, which led the study – involving 19 different hospitals across Europe, including Hammersmith Hospital in London – say they now want to find out why.

They are also keen to investigate why UK cancer patients with Covid-19 in the study are more likely to die than in the other three countries.

‘Cancer treatment can be safe’

Dr David Pinato, from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London, and study leader, said he was ‘concerned’ by the figures and called on the UK to ‘recognize the death toll’.

The pandemic has affected patients’ access to cancer treatments, and in some cases it has been postponed or stopped altogether on the basis of very little “solid evidence”, he said.

“Now we have a better understanding of how we can make this fair,” Dr Pinato said.

Treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy did not appear to increase the mortality risk of Covid-19, he added.

“This means that in many cases cancer treatment can be used safely during the pandemic, depending on a patient’s individual circumstances and risk factors.”

Question for breast cancer

In the study, one in three cancer patients with Covid-19 had died between late February and early April.

Men, the 65-year-old and those with other health conditions went less than other cancer patients with the virus – the same risk factors for the general population.

But women with breast cancer appeared to be protected, to some extent, in all four countries. Their mortality was only 15%.

Among the 890 patients examined, just half of the patients were male, their mean age was 68, and 330 patients had advanced cancer. More than 400 had other underlying conditions:

• 53% received therapy, of which a quarter had chemotherapy
• 45% were not on any treatment

About 80% of them had caught the virus in the community.

According to the researchers, the study’s findings could be used to work out which cancer patients were most vulnerable and need to be protected to protect themselves against the virus.

They also said that more clinical trials in emerging Covid-19 treatments in infected cancer patients, such as hydroxychloroquine, should happen soon.

The anti-malarial drug has been the subject of controversy after two studies were recently withdrawn. They suggested that drug deaths could worsen mortality.