Risk of COVID‐19 in Patients with Cancer Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Klebanov, Nikolai; Pahalyants, Vartan; Murphy, William S.; Theodosakis, Nicholas; Zubiri, Leyre; Klevens, R. Monina; Kwatra, Shawn G.; Lilly, Evelyn; Reynolds, Kerry L.; Semenov, Yevgeniy R.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the rate of coronavirus disease‐19 (COVID‐19) among patients with cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 1,545 patients with cancer treated with ICIs between July 1, 2019, and February 29, 2020, and 20,418 age‐, sex‐, and cancer category‐matched controls in a large referral hospital system. Confirmed COVID‐19 case and mortality data were obtained with Massachusetts Department of Public Health from March 1 through June 19, 2020. RESULTS: The mean age was 66.6 years, and 41.9% were female. There were 22 (1.4%) and 213 (1.0%) COVID‐19 cases in the ICI and control groups, respectively. When adjusting for demographics, medical comorbidities, and local infection rates, ICIs did not increase COVID‐19 susceptibility. CONCLUSION: ICIs did not increase the rate of COVID‐19. This information may assist patients and their oncologists in decision‐making surrounding cancer treatment during this pandemic.