Potential Synergy Between Immune Checkpoint Inhibition and COVID-19; Evaluating the current knowledge and clinical observations of immune checkpoint inhibition in COVID-19 patients

Schuiling, Matthijs (2020) Potential Synergy Between Immune Checkpoint Inhibition and COVID-19; Evaluating the current knowledge and clinical observations of immune checkpoint inhibition in COVID-19 patients. Bachelor's Thesis, Life Science and Technology.

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Abstract

In the last six months, SARS-CoV-2 has globally spread making COVID-19 a pandemic. COVID-19 can have mild symptoms, but some patients develop severe conditions with fatal outcomes. Cancer patients on immunotherapy are considered to be highly vulnerable to COVID-19 since unrestrained immune and cytokine activation is detrimental to the course of this disease. However, the impact of immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI), including checkpoint inhibitors targeting the CTLA-4 or the PD1/PD-L1 pathway, on COVID-19 severity has remained elusive, and continuation of ICI in cancer patients during this pandemic is under great debate. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge regarding the relationship between ICI and COVID-19, and clinical observations of COVID-19 patients with cancer as co-morbidity receiving prior checkpoint inhibitors are discussed. Although data is limited, including one single-center study, one multi-center study, and eight single case reports, first results do not demonstrate negative effects of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors on the severity of COVID-19. Instead, lung cancer and smoking tend to increase COVID-19 vulnerability. Additional studies are required to generalize recent outcomes and to further evaluate the safety of ICI. It is also of great importance to further elaborate on the relationship between COVID-19 severity, lung cancer, and smoking. These efforts will help to improve our understanding of COVID-19 in relationship to cancer.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Daemen, C.A.H.H.
Degree programme:	Life Science and Technology
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	01 Jul 2020 11:19
Last Modified:	01 Jul 2020 11:19
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/22331

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