Drug used to treat cancer might help reduce COVID-19 severity in patients: Study
WASHINGTON: Scientists have observed that a drug which is already approved to treat several blood cancers, is associated with reduced respiratory distress and a reduction in the overactive immune response in patients, an advance that may
lead to a potential therapeutic for COVID-19 infection.
According to the researchers, including those from the National Cancer Institute in the US, the cancer drug acalabrutinib blocked the protein Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) in COVID-19 patients, and provided clinical benefit to a small group of them. The study, pub
lished in the journal Science Immunology, noted that the findings should not be considered clinical advice, and remain to be tested in a randomised, controlled clinical trial.
The BTK protein, according to the scientists, plays an important role in the immune system, including in macrophages which are immune cells that can cause inflammation by producing proteins known as cytokines. These proteins, the researchers said, act as chemical messengers that help to stimulate and direct the immune response.
In some patients with severe
COVID-19, the study said a large amount of cytokines are released in the body all at once, causing the immune system to damage the function of organs such as the lungs -- a process known as a “cytokine storm.”
The current study involved 19 patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis that required hospitalisation, as well as with low blood-oxygen levels and evidence of inflammation.
According to the scientists, 11 of the 19 patients had been receiving supplemental oxygen for a median of two days, and eight others had been on ventilators for a median of 1.5 days.
The study noted that within one to three days after they began receiving the cancer drug, majority of patients in the supplemental oxygen group experienced a substantial drop in inflammation, and their breathing improved. It said eight of the 11 patients were able to come off supplemental oxygen, and discharged from hospital.