Impact of Anti-angiogenic Drugs on Severity of COVID-19 in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

• Published in: Technology in cancer research & treatment Vol. 23; p. 15330338241248573
• Main Authors: Peng, Sujuan, Huang, Hongxiang, Chen, Jinhong, Ding, Xinjing, Zhu, Xie, Liu, Yangyang, Chen, Li, Lu, Zhihui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States SAGE Publications 01.01.2024; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Aged; Angiogenesis Inhibitors - adverse effects; Angiogenesis Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - complications; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - drug therapy; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung - mortality; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Female; Humans; Intensive Care Units; Lung Neoplasms - complications; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - mortality; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; SARS-CoV-2; Severity of Illness Index; non-small cell lung cancer; COVID-19 severity; risk factors; anti-angiogenic drugs; coronavirus disease 2019
• ISSN: 1533-0346; 1533-0338
• DOI: 10.1177/15330338241248573

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has reshaped oncology practice, but the impact of anti-angiogenic drugs on the severity of COVID-19 in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. We carried out a retrospective study involving 166 consecutive patients with NSCLC who were positive for COVID-19, aiming to determine the effects of anti-angiogenic drugs on disease severity, as defined by severe/critical symptoms, intensive care unit (ICU) admission/intubation, and mortality outcomes. Risk factors were identified using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Of the participants, 73 had been administered anti-angiogenic drugs (termed the anti-angiogenic therapy (AT) group), while 93 had not (non-AT group). Comparative analyses showed no significant disparity in the rates of severe/critical symptoms (21.9% 35.5%, = 0.057), ICU admission/intubation (6.8% 7.5%, = 0.867), or death (11.0% 9.7%, = 0.787) between these two groups. However, elevated risk factors for worse outcomes included age ≥ 60 (odds ratio (OR): 2.52, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07-5.92), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 2 or higher (OR: 21.29, 95% CI: 4.98-91.01), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR: 7.25, 95% CI: 1.65-31.81), hypertension (OR: 2.98, 95% CI: 1.20-7.39), and use of immunoglobulin (OR: 5.26, 95% CI: 1.06-26.25). Our data suggests that the use of anti-angiogenic drugs may not exacerbate COVID-19 severity in NSCLC patients, indicating their potential safe application even during the pandemic period.