In response to the clear dangers that the coronavirus poses to patients diagnosed with mesothelioma and other thoracic malignancies, a group of international researchers has established a registry to determine whether cancer treatments pose an additional risk factor. The group recently released some of its earliest results, and reported that past treatment may in fact affect the risk of death among COVID-19 patients with thoracic malignancies.
TERAVOLT Registry Includes Malignant Mesothelioma Patients
The multi-center observational study included patients previously diagnosed with any thoracic cancer, and of the first two hundred patients included there were 151 with non-small cell lung cancer, 29 with small-cell lung cancer, 8 with thymoma, 4 with neuroendocrine cancer and 8 with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
The study examined the prior use of treatments commonly used to treat malignant mesothelioma and other cancers, including chemotherapy with and without immunotherapy, steroids, and anticoagulants. Previous treatment with immunotherapy alone or tyrosine kinase inhibitors did not raise the risk of death for these patients, and likewise none of the treatments provided to treat the coronavirus itself were associated with a greater risk of death.
Study Determines that Mesothelioma Patients and Other Thoracic Cancer Patients Face 33% Mortality from COVID-19
Though the TERAVOLT registry is only in its earliest stage of reporting, its initial study revealed that mesothelioma patients and others diagnosed with thoracic cancers are experiencing a 33% death rate from COVID-19. The group’s goal is to identify factors that demonstrate a significant link with this mortality. To date the only factor they’ve identified as clearly linked is smoking.
The group found that the 200 patients in the early cohort experienced high rates of hospital admissions for COVID-19, with 76% of them requiring hospitalization. Notably, only 13 of those were admitted to the intensive care unit, a perplexing fact that the group said may have been attributable to the fact that “difficult decisions were made limiting ICU admissions for patients with cancer and others with terminal illness due to equipment and personnel shortages.”
The coronavirus poses a deadly threat to patients already dealing with the realities of malignant mesothelioma. For information on how best to protect yourself, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
