1. COVID-19 severity and mortality in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a joint study by ERIC, the European Research Initiative on CLL, and CLL Campus.
- Author
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Scarfò L, Chatzikonstantinou T, Rigolin GM, Quaresmini G, Motta M, Vitale C, Garcia-Marco JA, Hernández-Rivas JÁ, Mirás F, Baile M, Marquet J, Niemann CU, Reda G, Munir T, Gimeno E, Marchetti M, Quaglia FM, Varettoni M, Delgado J, Iyengar S, Janssens A, Marasca R, Ferrari A, Cuéllar-García C, Itchaki G, Špaček M, De Paoli L, Laurenti L, Levin MD, Lista E, Mauro FR, Šimkovič M, Van Der Spek E, Vandenberghe E, Trentin L, Wasik-Szczepanek E, Ruchlemer R, Bron D, De Paolis MR, Del Poeta G, Farina L, Foglietta M, Gentile M, Herishanu Y, Herold T, Jaksic O, Kater AP, Kersting S, Malerba L, Orsucci L, Popov VM, Sportoletti P, Yassin M, Pocali B, Barna G, Chiarenza A, Dos Santos G, Nikitin E, Andres M, Dimou M, Doubek M, Enrico A, Hakobyan Y, Kalashnikova O, Ortiz Pareja M, Papaioannou M, Rossi D, Shah N, Shrestha A, Stanca O, Stavroyianni N, Strugov V, Tam C, Zdrenghea M, Coscia M, Stamatopoulos K, Rossi G, Rambaldi A, Montserrat E, Foà R, Cuneo A, and Ghia P
- Subjects
- Adenine analogs & derivatives, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Antineoplastic Agents pharmacology, Antineoplastic Agents therapeutic use, COVID-19, Comorbidity, Coronavirus Infections diagnosis, Coronavirus Infections mortality, Female, Humans, Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell drug therapy, Male, Middle Aged, Pandemics, Piperidines, Pneumonia, Viral diagnosis, Pneumonia, Viral mortality, Prognosis, Protein Kinase Inhibitors pharmacology, Protein Kinase Inhibitors therapeutic use, Pyrazoles pharmacology, Pyrazoles therapeutic use, Pyrimidines pharmacology, Pyrimidines therapeutic use, Retrospective Studies, SARS-CoV-2, Severity of Illness Index, Surveys and Questionnaires, Betacoronavirus, Coronavirus Infections pathology, Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell complications, Pneumonia, Viral pathology
- Abstract
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a disease of the elderly, characterized by immunodeficiency. Hence, patients with CLL might be considered more susceptible to severe complications from COVID-19. We undertook this retrospective international multicenter study to characterize the course of COVID-19 in patients with CLL and identify potential predictors of outcome. Of 190 patients with CLL and confirmed COVID-19 diagnosed between 28/03/2020 and 22/05/2020, 151 (79%) presented with severe COVID-19 (need of oxygen and/or intensive care admission). Severe COVID-19 was associated with more advanced age (≥65 years) (odds ratio 3.72 [95% CI 1.79-7.71]). Only 60 patients (39.7%) with severe COVID-19 were receiving or had recent (≤12 months) treatment for CLL at the time of COVID-19 versus 30/39 (76.9%) patients with mild disease. Hospitalization rate for severe COVID-19 was lower (p < 0.05) for patients on ibrutinib versus those on other regimens or off treatment. Of 151 patients with severe disease, 55 (36.4%) succumbed versus only 1/38 (2.6%) with mild disease; age and comorbidities did not impact on mortality. In CLL, (1) COVID-19 severity increases with age; (2) antileukemic treatment (particularly BTK inhibitors) appears to exert a protective effect; (3) age and comorbidities did not impact on mortality, alluding to a relevant role of CLL and immunodeficiency.
- Published
- 2020
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