AACR COVID-19: Hormonal Therapy and Severe Virus-Related Outcomes in Prostate Cancer
Posted: Thursday, July 30, 2020
Karine Tawagi, MD, of the Ochsner Health System, New Orleans, and colleagues analyzed clinical data to determine whether hormonal therapy might be associated with severe outcomes in patients with prostate cancer who were infected with COVID-19. The results of this recent multicenter study, which were presented during the 2020 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Meeting on COVID-19 and Cancer (Abstract PO-083), suggested that hospitalization, admission to intensive care units, intubation, and death may occur independently of this systemic therapy.
“Early reports on cancer patients infected with COVID-19 have suggested a high risk of hospitalization and death compared to the general population,” the investigators remarked. “With an ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19, it is important to identify characteristics leading to increased risk of severe events in cohorts of cancer patients.”
The investigators identified 56 patients with prostate cancer who were diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 1 and April 30, 2020. Most patients were Black (78.6%), and more than half were current or former smokers (58.9%). The most common comorbidities were hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. A total of 12.5% of patients had stage IV disease. Of all study patients, 26.8% received hormonal treatment within 90 days of a positive COVID-19 test.
More than half of patients (58.9%) required hospitalization. According to the investigators, 17.9% were admitted to the intensive care unit, and 14.3% of patients were intubated. Additionally, 23.2% of patients died. The incidence of severe outcomes did not appear to significantly differ between those receiving and not receiving hormonal therapy.
Disclosure: No information regarding conflicts of interest was provided.
