This study was conducted to observe Acute Immune Signatures and Their Legacies in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Infected Cancer Patients and (1) is there an immune signature of COVID-19 in cancer patients; and (2) do recovered cancer patients carry a post-infection immunological legacy? A consensus COVID-19 immune signature of a triad of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and IP-10; selective T cell subset activation, exhaustion, and depletion; and substantial changes in dendritic cell, basophil, and B cell composition, likely contributing to COVID-19 pathology is present (Laing et al., 2020; Mathew et al., 2020). Cancer patients, being immunocompromised, are historically considered high-risk for infections, although coronavirus infections are not associated with more severe disease in the immunocompromised. Across some heterogeneity in tumor type, stage, and treatment, virus-exposed solid cancer patients display a dominant impact of SARS-CoV-2, apparent from the resemblance of their immune signatures to those for COVID-19+ non-cancer patients. Attenuation of immune responsiveness may, indeed, be advantageous in COVID-19. Some COVID-19 clinical studies indicate poorer outcomes for cancer patients, especially those with hematological cancers.
As a conclusion, from the results it was evident that there was cross-cohort balance for cancer stage (stage IV disease: 55.9% versus 50%), treatment paradigm (radical intent: 31.7% versus 40%; 47.9% of COVID-19+ solid cancer patients versus 53.8% of solid cancer controls; 50% of COVID-19+ hematological cancer patients versus 45.5% of hematological controls.
Reference – https://www.cell.com/cancer-cell/fulltext/S1535-6108(21)00001-5
