And against covid, too

Cancer immunotherapy has shown efficacy against severe forms of COVID-19

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

Treatment restores the functionality of T cells, stopping the progression of severe complications. Scientists have noted the effectiveness only in relation to the most severe course of infection, so now the approach is considered exclusively for patients in intensive care units.

There are so-called controllers in the human immune system, which at some point tell lymphocytes to stop responding to a pathogen, for example, an infection, in order to prevent their hyperactivity. Meanwhile, against the background of cancer, sepsis and severe forms of COVID-19, T-lymphocytes stop functioning too early, so blocking these controllers is necessary. Blocking of immune control points PD-1 is actively used in the treatment of cancer, and now scientists from Brazil and Uruguay demonstrates its potential in relation to severe forms of COVID-19.

Vega et al. PD-1/PD-L1 blockade abrogates a dysfunctional innate-adaptive immune axis in critical β-coronavirus disease published in the journal Science Advances – VM.

First, they conducted experiments on mouse models and found that the introduction of a PD-1 inhibitor, the drug atezolizumab, restores the functionality of T cells. Then the effect of the treatment was tested on cell samples of healthy people and patients with COVID-19 from intensive care units.

It turned out that only in the severe form of COVID-19, a positive effect of atezolizumab was observed. "This is due to hyperactivation of inflammasomes, leading to exhaustion and dysfunction of acquired immunity in these patients," the authors explain.

The results obtained require further research for a number of reasons. Firstly, the scientists did not see any improvement in the condition of cancer patients if the treatment was carried out before the case of COVID-19 infection. Secondly, scientists noted a large number of hospitalizations of cancer patients on the background of taking atezolizumab. On the other hand, PD-1 inhibitor testing has previously shown safety in patients with sepsis.

Immunotherapy refers to very expensive methods of treatment, however, the authors believe that if the effectiveness is confirmed, this approach is justified — only patients in a very severe form of COVID-19 will benefit, and at this stage of the pandemic there are few of them.

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