Sylvester joins COVID-19 consortium to see how coronavirus affects cancer patients

As COVID-19 spread around the world, leading oncologists realized they knew little about how this novel coronavirus would affect their patients — and the treatment they were receiving. On social media and on old-fashioned phone calls they wondered:

Are cancer patients more at risk of catching the new virus? Are they more likely to develop severe symptoms? How many of them already have it? What treatments, if any, affect outcomes?

“We realized there was very little information out there and no real data either,” recalls Dr. Gilberto de Lima Lopes Jr., an oncologist and associate director for global oncology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. “But we were all asking the same questions. What can we do to protect our cancer patients so they can continue having their surgeries and treatment?”

This prompted a group of leading experts — Lopes among them — to start the COVID-19 & Cancer Consortium, designed to quickly collect real-world and real-time information about how the virus is affecting the population of cancer patients.

Within six weeks from its launch, the consortium registry had details from 1,200 anonymous patients. Most patients are in the U.S., from such hot-spot areas as Seattle and the Northeast, but data has also been submitted from Europe and elsewhere. Normally, this kind of information would have taken months, maybe years to collect.

The collaboration was possible for two reasons, Lopes explains. “There was a sense of urgency that we needed to learn as fast as we could what happens to cancer patients who contract the virus. And we also had the tools to collect all this information quickly and efficiently. This would’ve never been possible without technology.” (The consortium even has a Twitter account. Its handle: @COVID19nCCC.)

Physician-scientists in the consortium are expected to release their research May 28 during the ASCO20 (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Virtual Scientific Program. Over time, they’re hoping this information will help them understand which cancers may be the most problematic for COVID patients, what therapies are most dangerous (or safe), and who should continue or stop treatment.

The consortium is led by a steering committee that, in addition to Lopes, includes representatives from Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, among others. Its membership also incorporates three dozen comprehensive care centers, including Sylvester, and 100 collaborating oncologists and researchers.

Currently, only healthcare providers enter information on the consortium’s website (ccc19.org). The registry is comprised of COVID-19 patients who have a cancer as well as those who have a history of a malignancy. It includes both asymptomatic coronavirus cases and those who are critically ill.

Questions are about a patient’s predisposing conditions and medications, the date of their cancer diagnosis, whether they’re in treatment or in remission, and how they’re responding to cancer treatment. The section on COVID-19 delves into similar topics. Lopes and others hope the consortium will soon expand to include a survey for patients themselves to answer specific questions about disease management.

Though much still remains unknown about the new virus, doctors do know that people who have compromised immune systems, which includes cancer patients, run the risk of developing more severe symptoms. Cancer patients or those who have had cancer in the past also tend to be older and have more chronic health conditions.

In the meantime, Lopes and his colleagues at Sylvester and other cancer centers continue to conduct clinical trials and treat patients while enforcing strict screenings and limiting visitors. They’re testing every patient who comes in, whether it’s for surgery, chemotherapy or radiation. (In the case of children or the elderly, only one other person can accompany them.)

All other office appointments have been moved to telehealth visits. Physicians know restricting social interaction slows the spread of the virus, and this is particularly important for the most vulnerable, not just the general population. In addition, medical groups, such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Radiation Oncology, have issued guidelines for both healthcare professionals and cancer patients.

For many cancer patients, continuing with treatment has provided strange solace in a surreal world, says Lopes.

“We all know that cancer doesn’t go away because of a pandemic,” he adds. “It doesn’t take a holiday. So we adapt to be able to continue providing the care our patients need.”

This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM.