Urological cancer patients receiving treatment during COVID-19: a single-centre perspective

Abstract

Background: Active cancer, immunosuppressive treatments and immunotherapies have been reported to increase cancer patients’ risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection. For patients and clinicians, treatment risk must be weighed against disease progression. Methods: This retrospective case series surveys urological cancer patients who made informed decisions to continue anticancer treatment (ACT) at one centre from March to June 2020. Results: Sixty-one patients (44 bladder, 10 prostate, 7 upper urinary tract cancers) received 195 cycles of ACT (99 chemotherapy, 59 immunotherapy, 37 as part of ongoing clinical trials), with a range of indications: 43 palliative, 10 neoadjuvant, 8 adjuvant. One patient tested positive for COVID-19 but experienced only mild symptoms. Fourteen patients interrupted treatment outside of their schedule, seven of these due to potential COVID-19 associated risk. ACT supportive steroids were not associated with higher rates of COVID-19. Conclusions: This single-centre series reports that ACT administration did not result in an apparent excess in symptomatic COVID-19 infections.