launch of a clinical study in Lyon to see the effects of Covid-19 on patients

THE ESSENTIAL

• Chinese studies have shown that cancer patients are more vulnerable to Covid-19
• The effects of antibiotics, antivirals and immunotherapy products will be analyzed

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Research on the Covid-19 continues to advance. While it is known today that the disease can have serious effects on people with cardiovascular disease, diabetes or obesity, researchers are now looking to determine its effects in cancer patients. On Tuesday April 7, the Léon Bérard anti-cancer center in Lyon announced in a press release the launch of two research protocols, including a clinical study including patients with cancer and the coronavirus.

“To date, no treatment has yet proven to be effective. Chinese epidemiological studies have shown that cancer patients are more vulnerable to the virus, and are more likely to develop serious complications from COVID-19, “the researchers said in the preamble to the statement.

The study, coordinated by Dr. Philippe Cassier, a medical oncologist at the Léon Bérard Center, will compare three treatments to determine the most effective against Covid-19. A total of 273 patients from all over France, all with advanced cancer, will be followed. “In the case of the coronavirus epidemic, it was not certain that these patients could be admitted to intensive care. This study makes it possible not to exclude them from other studies “, specifies Philippe Cassier, quoted by 20 minutes.

Two groups of patients

This month, the researchers will divide on one side the patients affected by the virus but who succeed in breathing normally and on the other those in respiratory distress and therefore in a more critical state. Each group will test the three treatments. The first, known as classic, will consist of administering antibiotics to the sick. The second to treat them with GNS561, a chloroquine analogue, “currently being tested as cancer therapy and for which we already have data on its toxicity and safety”, explains the center. Its effects “are 10 to 50 times superior to chloroquine. The objective will be to demonstrate that this drug works better on this type of patient, “explains Philippe Cassier.

The third treatment will be immunotherapy for people who do not have respiratory problems, the aim being to strengthen their immune defenses. “We want to be careful with this arm of the study because we do not yet know the precise role of the immune system in the worsening of COVID-19 but what is certain is that serious patients have a fall in lymphocytes very important ”, explains Professor Jean-Yves Blay, director general of the Léon Bérard Center and president of Unicancer, in the hospital press release. Patients in respiratory distress will receive an antibody called anti-interleukin-6R to “slow down the runaway immune system and an exacerbated inflammatory reaction”. The first tests should take place in the coming days.

In parallel, researchers from the Léon Bérard center will conduct a so-called “observational” study. The latter “aims to monitor the progress of cancer patients undergoing treatment with symptoms of COVID-19. The main objective is to collect as much data as possible on this disease in cancer patients in order to assess the risk of complications due to infection with this virus in this particular population, “they explain. By Monday, 6 patients had already been included in the experiment.

Each year in France, “250,000 cancer patients receive active treatment”

Because the center “hypothesizes that patients with malignant tumors in active treatment are more at risk of developing serious complications of COVID disease”. “It is estimated that each year in France, 250,000 people with cancer receive active treatment (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy). It is therefore essential to collect information on this virus, the disease it triggers, and to study it in connection with cancer pathologies, “the statement concluded.

Cancer kills millions of people around the world every year. According to the WHO, this affliction is the second leading cause of death on the planet after cardiovascular diseases. In 2015, 8.8 million people died of cancer. In France, cancer is the leading cause of premature death in people under 65. On average, “148,737 cancer deaths have been recorded each year in France, including 88,378 men and 60,359 women,” notes the Ligue contre le cancer on its site.

The most common cancer in men is prostate cancer. Then come the lung and the colon-rectum. In women, breast cancer is the most diagnosed, followed by that of the colon-rectum and then of the lung.

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