B-cell malignancies treated with targeted drugs and SARS-CoV-2 infection: A European Hematology Association Survey (EPICOVIDEHA)

Maria Stefania Infante, Jon Salmanton-García, Ana Fernández-Cruz, Francesco Marchesi, Ozren Jaksic, Barbora Weinbergerová, Caroline Besson, Rafael F. Duarte, Federico Itri, Toni Valković, Tomáš Szotkovski, Alessandro Busca, Anna Guidetti, Andreas Glenthøj, Graham P. Collins, Valentina Bonuomo, Uluhan Sili, Guldane Cengiz Seval, Marina Machado, Raul CordobaOla Blennow, Ghaith Abu-Zeinah, Sylvain Lamure, Austin Kulasekararaj, Iker Falces-Romero, Chiara Cattaneo, Jaap van Doesum, Klára Piukovics, Ali S. Omrani, Gabriele Magliano, Marie-Pierre Ledoux, Cristina de Ramon, Alba Cabirta, Luisa Verga, Alberto López-García, Maria Gomes da Silva, Zlate Stojanoski, Stef Meers, Tobias Lahmer, Sonia Martín-Pérez, Julio Dávila-Vals, Jens van Praet, Michail Samarkos, Yavuz M. Bilgin, Linda Katharina Karlsson, Josip Batinić, Anna Nordlander, Martin Schönlein, Martin Hoenigl, Zdeněk Ráčil, Miloš Mladenović, Michaela Hanakova, Giovanni Paolo Maria Zambrotta, Nick de Jonge, Tatjana Adžić-Vukičević, Raquel Nunes-Rodrigues, Lucia Prezioso, Milan Navrátil, Monia Marchetti, Annarosa Cuccaro, Maria Calbacho, Antonio Giordano, Oliver A. Cornely, José-Ángel Hernández-Rivas, Livio Pagano

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Abstract

Patients with lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD) are vulnerable to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Here, we describe and analyze the outcome of 366 adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) treated with targeted drugs and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed between February 2020 and January 2022. Median follow-up was 70.5 days (IQR 0-609). Most used targeted drugs were Bruton-kinase inhibitors (BKIs) (N= 201, 55%), anti-CD20 other than rituximab (N=61, 16%), BCL2 inhibitors (N=33, 9%) and lenalidomide (N=28, 8%).Only 16.2% of the patients were vaccinated with 2 or more doses of vaccine at the onset of COVID-19. Mortality was 24% (89/366) on day 30 and 36%(134/366) on the last day of follow-up. Age >75 years (p<0.001, HR 1.036), active malignancy (p<0.001, HR 2.215), severe COVID-19 (p=0.017, HR 2.270) and admission to ICU (p<0.001, HR 5.751) were risk factors for mortality at last day of follow up. There was no difference in OS rates in NHL vs CLL patients (p=0.306), nor in patients treated with or without BKIs (p=0.151). Mortality in ICU was 66% (CLL 61%, NHL 76%). Overall mortality rate decreased according to vaccination status, being 39% in unvaccinated patients, 32% and 26% in those having received one or two doses, respectively, and 20% in patients with a booster dose (p=0.245). Overall mortality rate dropped from 41% during the first semester of 2020 to 25% at the last semester of 2021. These results show increased severity and mortality from COVID-19 in LPDs patients treated with targeted drugs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number992137
JournalFrontiers in Oncology
Volume12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Oct 2022

Keywords

  • SARS-CoV-2
  • chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
  • immune system COVID19
  • infection risk
  • lymphoproliferative diseases (LPD)
  • non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL)
  • targeted drugs

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