If You’re Taking These Cancer Drugs, You May Have a Lowered Risk of Contracting COVID; See the List

But how did these doctors and researchers come to this conclusion?

"In this cohort of patients that had all different types of cancer, we basically saw, OK, if people got this drug during the time that COVID was really bad in New York City … How many people who had the drug got COVID, versus patients who were getting another drug?" Dr. Michael Foote, a third-year oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, tells SurvivorNet.

"What we found was pretty cool," he added.

Foote explained that between March 10 and May 28 at the height of the pandemic 1,701 cancer patients taking ACE-2 angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 lowering drugs to treat their disease were routinely tested for COVID-19, and it was found that there was a 7% risk of infection compared to the 12.9% risk of infection if you were being treated with any other cancer drug.

There are 91 different ACE-2 lowering drugs, Foote says, and there are eight used to treat cancer. Those drugs are: alpelisib, sold under the brand name Piqray®; cabazitaxel, sold under the brand name Jevtana®; crizotinib, sold under the brand name Xalkori; dasatinib, sold under the brand name Sprycel; decitabine, sold under the brand name Dacogen; everolimus, sold under the brand names Zortress, Afinitor Disperz or Afinitor; gemcitabine, sold under the brand name Gemzar; and temsirolimus, sold under the brand name Torisel.

To put it simply, Foote says, "If you have cancer, these drugs seem to lower your chance of (getting) COVID."

Should I Switch Cancer Drugs?

Some cancer patients may read this study and realize they aren't on one of these drugs; maybe you want to be since they're associated with lowering the risk of COVID-19 infection. But Foote says that treating the cancer you have will be your doctor's first priority.

"If you're a doctor and trying to choose between different drugs and COVID is really bad, maybe there is a reason to choose a drug that’s associated with a different COVID level," Foote tells SurvivorNet, but also says, "The clinical utility of it is still under debate."

In other words, Foote says, "People still wanna fight the cancer."

Related: 5 COVID-19 Vaccine Questions Answered by Expert Physician

Cancer Patients Should Get COVID Vaccine

Foote further explained that this study is very unique because there's now a vaccine for COVID-19. In other words, if this study were to be conducted now eight months after the vaccine was first available there's no way to say whether the decreased risk of COVID is because of the shot, or the ACE-2 lowering drugs.

"If you would try to do this (study) now, it would be pretty tough," says Foote, "(as the) vaccine could be omitting COVID."

It's important for everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, especially cancer patients. But cancer patients may not know which vaccine Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson is the best vaccine for them to get.

"The best COVID-19 vaccine to get is the first one available to you," says Dr. Anita Ying of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Cancer patients should get vaccinated against COVID-19 at a time your oncologist deems appropriate.

"We strongly believe from a cancer perspective that there are almost no cancer patients that we would say should turn down the vaccine," Dr. Bob Keenan, chief medical officer at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., tells SurvivorNet.

Stress and anxiety are common emotions that are experienced after a cancer diagnosis, but the ongoing pandemic can exacerbate those feelings.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.