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

Scarfo, Lydia; Chatzikonstantinou, Thomas; Rigolin, Gian Matteo; Quaresmini, Giulia; Motta, Marina; Vitale, Candida; Antonio Garcia-Marco, Jose; Angel Hernandez-Rivas, Jose; Miras, Fatima; Baile, Monica; Marquet, Juan; Niemann, Carsten U.; Reda, Gianluigi; Munir, Talha; Gimeno, Eva; Marchetti, Monia; Quaglia, Francesca Maria; Varettoni, Marzia; Delgado, Julio; Iyengar, Sunil; Janssens, Ann; Marasca, Roberto; Ferrari, Angela; Cuellar-Garcia, Carolina; Itchaki, Gilad; Spacek, Martin; De Paoli, Lorenzo; Laurenti, Luca; Levin, Mark-David; Lista, Enrico; Mauro, Francesca R.; Simkovic, Martin; Spek, Ellen van der; Vandenberghe, Elisabeth; Trentin, Livio; Wasik-Szczepanek, Ewa; Ruchlemer, Rosa; Bron, Dominique; De Paolis, Maria Rosaria; Del Poeta, Giovanni; Farina, Lucia; Foglietta, Myriam; Gentile, Massimo; Herishanu, Yair; Herold, Tobias; Jaksic, Ozren; Kater, Arnon P.; Kersting, Sabina; Malerba, Lara; Orsucci, Lorella; Popov, Viola Maria; Sportoletti, Paolo; Yassin, Mohamed; Pocali, Barbara; Barna, Gabor; Chiarenza, Annalisa; dos Santos, Gimena; Nikitin, Eugene; Andres, Martin; Dimou, Maria; Doubek, Michael; Enrico, Alicia; Hakobyan, Yervand; Kalashnikova, Olga; Ortiz Pareja, Macarena; Papaioannou, Maria; Rossi, Davide; Shah, Nimish; Shrestha, Amit; Stanca, Oana; Stavroyianni, Niki; Strugov, Vladimir; Tam, Constantine; Zdrenghea, Mihnea; Coscia, Marta; Stamatopoulos, Kostas; Rossi, Giuseppe; Rambaldi, Alessandro; Montserrat, Emili; Foa, Robin; Cuneo, Antonio; Ghia, Paolo (2020): 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. In: Leukemia, Vol. 34, No. 9: pp. 2354-2363

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.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Medicine
• Subjects: 600 Technology > 610 Medicine and health
• ISSN: 0887-6924
• Language: English