Challenges in treatment of patients with acute leukemia and COVID-19: a series of 12 patients

Blood Adv. 2020 Dec 8;4(23):5936-5941. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002543.

Abstract

  1. Patients with acute leukemia present with a prolonged and severe course of COVID-19, which is paralleled by high rates of viremia.

  2. Low-intensive chemotherapy seems to be more feasible in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infection.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / therapeutic use*
  • Azacitidine / therapeutic use
  • COVID-19 / complications
  • COVID-19 / diagnosis*
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Cytarabine / therapeutic use*
  • Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, B-Cell / complications
  • Leukemia, B-Cell / drug therapy
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / complications
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / drug therapy*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • RNA, Viral / metabolism
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • RNA, Viral
  • Cytarabine
  • Azacitidine