Impact of PD-1 Blockade on Severity of COVID-19 in Patients with Lung Cancers

Overview

Journal Cancer Discov

Specialty Oncology

Date 2020 May 14

PMID 32398243

Citations 158

Authors

Jia Luo

Hira Rizvi

Jacklynn V Egger

Isabel R Preeshagul

Jedd D Wolchok

Matthew D Hellmann

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to dramatic changes in oncology practice. It is currently unknown whether programmed death 1 (PD-1) blockade therapy affects severity of illness from COVID-19 in patients with cancer. To address this uncertainty, we examined consecutive patients with lung cancers who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and examined severity on the basis of no or prior receipt of PD-1 blockade. Overall, the severity of COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer was high, including need for hospitalization in more than half of patients and death in nearly a quarter. Prior PD-1 blockade was, as expected, associated with smoking status. After adjustment for smoking status, PD-1 blockade exposure was not associated with increased risk of severity of COVID-19. PD-1 blockade does not appear to affect the severity of COVID-19 in patients with lung cancers. SIGNIFICANCE: A key question in oncology practice amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is whether PD-1 blockade therapy affects COVID-19 severity. Our analysis of patients with lung cancers supports the safety of PD-1 blockade treatment to achieve optimal cancer outcomes..

Citing Articles

TIM3 in COVID-19; A potential hallmark?.

Zamani M, Sacha P Heliyon. 2025; 10(23):e40386.

PMID: 39759854 PMC: 11700678. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e40386.

Evaluation of the safety of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors for immunotherapy in patients with malignant tumors after COVID-19 infection: A single-center cohort study.

Liao K, Cheng J, Hu Y, Zhang B, Huang P, Liu J Cancer Med. 2024; 13(19):e70202.

PMID: 39377592 PMC: 11459677. DOI: 10.1002/cam4.70202.

Time-Dependent Effects of Clinical Interventions on SARS-CoV-2 Immunity in Patients with Lung Cancer.

Mack P, Hsu C, Rodilla A, Gomez J, Cagan J, Huang Y Vaccines (Basel). 2024; 12(7).

PMID: 39066351 PMC: 11281667. DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12070713.

Machine learning prediction of the case-fatality of COVID-19 and risk factors for adverse outcomes in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Jung Y, Ahn J, Park S, Sun J, Lee S, Ahn J Transl Cancer Res. 2024; 13(6):2587-2595.

PMID: 38988924 PMC: 11231785. DOI: 10.21037/tcr-23-2188.

Association of immune checkpoint inhibitors with SARS-CoV-2 infection rate and prognosis in patients with solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Sun L, Zhao F, Xiang Y, Chen S, Shu Q Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1259112.

PMID: 38887296 PMC: 11180804. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1259112.

References

Thevarajan I, Nguyen T, Koutsakos M, Druce J, Caly L, van de Sandt C . Breadth of concomitant immune responses prior to patient recovery: a case report of non-severe COVID-19. Nat Med. 2020; 26(4):453-455. PMC: 7095036. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0819-2. View

Guan W, Ni Z, Hu Y, Liang W, Ou C, He J . Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med. 2020; 382(18):1708-1720. PMC: 7092819. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2002032. View

Arentz M, Yim E, Klaff L, Lokhandwala S, Riedo F, Chong M . Characteristics and Outcomes of 21 Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 in Washington State. JAMA. 2020; 323(16):1612-1614. PMC: 7082763. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.4326. View

Moore J, June C . Cytokine release syndrome in severe COVID-19. Science. 2020; 368(6490):473-474. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8925. View

Yu J, Ouyang W, Chua M, Xie C . SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Patients With Cancer at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Wuhan, China. JAMA Oncol. 2020; 6(7):1108-1110. PMC: 7097836. DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.0980. View

Mehta V, Goel S, Kabarriti R, Cole D, Goldfinger M, Acuna-Villaorduna A . Case Fatality Rate of Cancer Patients with COVID-19 in a New York Hospital System. Cancer Discov. 2020; 10(7):935-941. PMC: 7334098. DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-0516. View

Lewis M . Between Scylla and Charybdis - Oncologic Decision Making in the Time of Covid-19. N Engl J Med. 2020; 382(24):2285-2287. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2006588. View

Liang W, Guan W, Chen R, Wang W, Li J, Xu K . Cancer patients in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. Lancet Oncol. 2020; 21(3):335-337. PMC: 7159000. DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30096-6. View

Huang A, Postow M, Orlowski R, Mick R, Bengsch B, Manne S . T-cell invigoration to tumour burden ratio associated with anti-PD-1 response. Nature. 2017; 545(7652):60-65. PMC: 5554367. DOI: 10.1038/nature22079. View

10.

Brahmer J, Drake C, Wollner I, Powderly J, Picus J, Sharfman W . Phase I study of single-agent anti-programmed death-1 (MDX-1106) in refractory solid tumors: safety, clinical activity, pharmacodynamics, and immunologic correlates. J Clin Oncol. 2010; 28(19):3167-75. PMC: 4834717. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2009.26.7609. View

11.

Wu Z, McGoogan J . Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020; 323(13):1239-1242. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.2648. View

12.

Zhang L, Zhu F, Xie L, Wang C, Wang J, Chen R . Clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients: a retrospective case study in three hospitals within Wuhan, China. Ann Oncol. 2020; 31(7):894-901. PMC: 7270947. DOI: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.03.296. View

13.

Gudbjartsson D, Helgason A, Jonsson H, Magnusson O, Melsted P, Norddahl G . Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the Icelandic Population. N Engl J Med. 2020; 382(24):2302-2315. PMC: 7175425. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2006100. View

14.

Barber D, Wherry E, Masopust D, Zhu B, Allison J, Sharpe A . Restoring function in exhausted CD8 T cells during chronic viral infection. Nature. 2005; 439(7077):682-7. DOI: 10.1038/nature04444. View

15.

Dai M, Liu D, Liu M, Zhou F, Li G, Chen Z . Patients with Cancer Appear More Vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2: A Multicenter Study during the COVID-19 Outbreak. Cancer Discov. 2020; 10(6):783-791. PMC: 7309152. DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-0422. View

16.

Bonomi L, Ghilardi L, Arnoldi E, Tondini C, Cecilia Bettini A . A Rapid Fatal Evolution of Coronavirus Disease-19 in a Patient With Advanced Lung Cancer With a Long-Time Response to Nivolumab. J Thorac Oncol. 2020; 15(6):e83-e85. PMC: 7270552. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2020.03.021. View

17.

Koralnik I . Can Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Keep JC Virus in Check?. N Engl J Med. 2019; 380(17):1667-1668. PMC: 8656172. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMe1904140. View

18.

Zheng M, Gao Y, Wang G, Song G, Liu S, Sun D . Functional exhaustion of antiviral lymphocytes in COVID-19 patients. Cell Mol Immunol. 2020; 17(5):533-535. PMC: 7091858. DOI: 10.1038/s41423-020-0402-2. View

19.

Tisoncik J, Korth M, Simmons C, Farrar J, Martin T, Katze M . Into the eye of the cytokine storm. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2012; 76(1):16-32. PMC: 3294426. DOI: 10.1128/MMBR.05015-11. View

20.

Im S, Hashimoto M, Gerner M, Lee J, Kissick H, Burger M . Defining CD8+ T cells that provide the proliferative burst after PD-1 therapy. Nature. 2016; 537(7620):417-421. PMC: 5297183. DOI: 10.1038/nature19330. View