Published Jul 28, 2020

Some Cancer Patients Can Get Chemotherapy Without A Higher Risk Of COVID-19 Infection, Study Shows

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Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemo During COVID-19

A leading expert says initial results from new UK study suggests that some cancer patients can continue with treatment amid the outbreak
Low-dose chemotherapy recipients, often given to those with prostate or breast cancer, showed a lower risk for infection of COVID-19
For older cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, their risk did not significantly increase

There is positive news around continuing chemotherapy and what that means for our chances of getting COVID-19. “We have initial data from this study suggesting that at least some types of patients can go on with their regular therapies during COVID-19,” says Dr. Michael Grossbard, the Chief of Hematology at New York University's Perlmutter Cancer Center. He’s referencing a new study out of the United Kingdom that provides some hope for cancer patients undergoing treatment during the pandemic.

UK Coronavirus Cancer Monitoring Project (UKCCMP) launched a clinical trial in March studying 800 cancer patients positive for COVID-19 who have been diagnosed with types of cancers including: Melanoma, female genital cancers, lymphoma, myeloma and other hematologic (blood) cancers, gastrointestinal cancers, lung cancer, and urinary tract cancers. Many of those most negatively affected by continuing their cancer treatments were older individuals or patients fighting additional aliments and their treatments did not appear to be a main contributing factor to end results.

“One thing one can say about the study in the U.K. is that it does give us some cause for optimism that patients with cancer, at least some types of cancer, are not at greater risk of dying from a COVID-19 infection,” says Dr. Michael Grossbard.

Many experts have said that older cancer patients are at higher risk of mortality when exposed to COVID-19, but the study disproves that. He points out that in cases where patients are given low-dose chemotherapy, such as for prostate cancer or breast cancer, their risk of infection is lower which points to the promising results regarding older patients.

Dr. Brieze Keeley Bell explains when cancer patients should stay home, and when they should call their doctor

The Flaws In The U.K. Study

While the results may be promising, Dr. Grossbard is quick to point that they shouldn’t be generalized to all cancer patients. However, the clinical trial contained some flaws such as the small number of patients studied who were undergoing immunotherapy (6%) as a treatment option, and the small number participants diagnosed with blood cancers.

“I don’t think the data from this U.K. study is generalizable to all of our patient populations,” says Dr. Grossbard. “We’ve all been very concerned about how people with cancer will fare if they get COVID-19 infections, [and] I do have to say that this most recent study from Europe was a relatively limited number of cancer types and not exactly in accord with data that have been published at other institutions…While this most recent study from Europe is interesting and encouraging, I think all of us are still going to have a lot of caution with how we treat our patients during the COVID era.”

Dr. Brendon Stiles explains what late stage lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy should know amid COVID-19

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