key: cord-0935111-ux4tmdhs authors: Bi, Jianping; Wang, Sheng; Wang, Yajie; Yang, Dongqin; Verma, Vivek; Huang, Jing; Han, Guang title: Effect of Administering Subsequent Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in Cancer Patients with Prior COVID-19 Infection date: 2020-10-08 journal: J Infect DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2020.10.005 sha: e820056cd9a5e0d2359346224fb34d4fede4f5c6 doc_id: 935111 cord_uid: ux4tmdhs nan In this study, we collected and analyzed data from 8 cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection history (negative for viral RNA and positive for serum antibodies) who received subsequent immunotherapy from four hospitals, including Hubei Cancer Hospital, Union Hospital, People's Hospital of Dongxihu District and The Fifth Hospital of Wuhan. All patients had been diagnosed with COVID-19 via positive for nucleic acid testing before. We reviewed the medical records, including SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid and antibody testing, chest computed tomography (CT), biochemical markers, and routine bloodwork and treatment data of all cancer patients with prior COVID-19 infection from March 9 to July 29, 2020. Confirmation of prior COVID-19 infection was defined as positive SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing by the colloidal gold immunoassay (Innovita, Tangshan, Hebei, China) and negative for viral 2 nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcriptase PCR (rRT-PCR). The median age was 58 years (range: 41-72), and 63% patients were men. Four (50%) patients had a history of smoking and three (38%) patients had chronic diseases. All cases harbored positive serum antibodies: 1 was negative for immunoglobulin G (IgG -) and positive for immunoglobulin M (IgM + ), 6 were IgG + IgMand 1 was IgG + IgM + . Nasopharyngeal cancer was the most frequent neoplasm (3/8 [38%] patients), followed by lung cancer (2/8 [25%] patients) ( Table 1 ). Two (25%) patients had received ICI therapy prior to initially developing COVID-19, and 6 (75%) patients were ICI therapy-naïve. Three (38%) patients received a combination of anti-PD-1 agents with chemotherapy. Two (25%) patients were treated with immunotherapy alone. Two (25%) patients received combinatorial anti-PD-1 ICI with radiotherapy ± chemotherapy. One (13%) patient received anti-PD-1 with anlotinib. The median follow-up from initial administration of ICI therapy was 83 days Patients with COVID-19 have varying degrees of multiple organ dysfunction. 5, 6 The rates of liver dysfunction, acute kidney injury, and cardiac injury can be as high as 29%, 29% and 23%, respectively, in critically ill patients. 6 From our analysis, our data demonstrate that cancer patients with prior COVID-19 infection who undergo ICI therapy do not show an overtly increased susceptibility to organ dysfunction in the short term. Although the quality of evidence is overall low, our study may help add important data to this emerging issue. Our study has several limitations, in addition to its retrospective nature. According to the COVID-19 Diagnostic Criteria, 7 viral serum antibodies are indeed valid for diagnosis; however, false positives/negatives can still occur. Additionally, the number of such cases herein remains relatively small, and a larger sample size in patients with cancer is needed to validate these findings, including a deeper understanding 4 regarding the diverse types of ICIs as well as the impact of combinatorial therapies. All other authors declare no competing interests. Laboratory characteristics of patients infected with the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus Positive RT-PCR Test Results in Patients Recovered From COVID-19 Re-activation of pulmonary tuberculosis during anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) treatment Hepatitis B virus reactivation in cancer patients with positive Hepatitis B surface antigen undergoing PD-1 inhibition Cardiovascular Implications of Fatal Outcomes of Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Clinical course and outcomes of critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a single-centered, retrospective, observational study New coronavirus pneumonia prevention and control program Abbreviations: NPC, nasopharyngeal cancer; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; GP, gemcitabine and cisplatin; PD-1, programmed cell death protein 1 We thank all cancer patients and their caregivers involved in the study. None.