Due to COVID-19, the American Cancer Society (AACR) decided to hold annual meetings online. AACR Virtual Annual Meeting 2020 takes place on two separate occasions, April 27-28 and June 22-24.

On the first day, the 27th, there were mainly presentations on current or completed bio-clinical trials. On the 28th, the meeting was started with the plenary session on the subject of <COVID-19 and Cancer>, followed by symposiums and general meetings on new drugs and treatments under development.

The virtual plenary session <COVID-19 and Cancer>, which was held at 9 AM EDT, consisted of 7 presentations. In each presentation, the status of COVID-19 and various statistics on cancer patients in major countries and cities around the world, such as Wuhan, Milan, Paris, Madrid, Naples, and New York, were revealed, and their views and opinions were also shared.

▲ Anti-tumor treatment within 14 days after confirmation of COVID-19 and consolidation in CT scan showed significant results in the hazard ratio (HR). (Image provided: Tongji Hospital)

To begin with, Prof. Li Zhang of Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China, gave a presentation about <The experience of treating patients with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic in China>. Tongji Medical College collected data on cancer patients from 3 hospitals in Wuhan from January 13 to February 26, 2020, and conducted both univariate and multivariate analysis on severe patients for risk factors. In addition, 124 cancer patients who had undergone immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), and their families were followed up to find out the infection rate and clinical results.

She stated, “Of the cancer patients, 28 were infected with COVID-19, the median age was 65, and the male gender was 60.7% (17pts). 25% (7pts) were lung cancer, and 28.6% (8pts) were considered to be infected through hospital-associated transmission. 53.6% (15pts) had severe events with the mortality rate of 28.6%. Aggressive presentations and negative outcomes could be seen in cancer patients with COVID-19.”

Also, “As a result of chest CT, 75% (21pts) had ground-glass opacity, and 46.3% (13pts) had consolidation. The patients with patchy consolidation showed a higher risk of developing into severe events. Moreover, since anti-tumor treatment that progressed within 14 days after confirmation of COVID-19 significantly increased the proportion of severe events, it is recommended to actively perform COVID-19 tests on cancer patients who have undergone anti-tumor treatment.”

Prof. Li Zhang explained about the attempt to find out where there is a relationship between ICI and COVID-19. “Only one of the 124 cancer patients who had undergone ICI therapy was confirmed to have COVID-19, so it was difficult to get meaningful evidence of showing the relationship between ICI therapy and COVID-19 within limited data.”


Meanwhile, Prof. Marina C. Garassino of Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Prof. Fabrice Barlesi of Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus Grand Paris, Dr. Carlos Gomez-Martin of Octubre University Hospital, Dr. Paolo A. Ascierto of Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione Pascale, Dr. Louis P. Voigt of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Prof. Hongbing Cai of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University also gave presentations about the relationship between COVID-19 and cancer patients conducted at each center, hospital or research institute.

The contents of the main presentations will be uploaded on Acrofan in follow-up articles.


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