Middle East Journal of Cancer

The Effect of Bortezomib Regimen on Multiple Myeloma Patients Infected with COVID-19

Document Type : Original Article(s)

Authors

Zahra Rezaeian 1
Fatemeh Abedini 1
Saeedeh Arabzadeh 1
Maryam Farzan 2
Mehran Sharifi 1, 3
Amirreza Manteghinejad 1

1 Cancer Prevention Research Center, Omid Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

2 Medical Student, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

3 Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30476/mejc.2022.95615.1784
Abstract
Background: Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) have compromised immune systems due to the nature of the malignancy and anticancer treatments. This study aims to report the effects of Bortezomib-containing chemotherapy regimens on the severity and mortality of MM patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2).
Method: This retrospective cohort study enrolled MM patients presenting with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection referred to Omid Hospital. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether they received any chemotherapy regimens containing Bortezomib within the last 90 days of admission or not. Clinical and laboratory characteristics, severity, and outcomes of both groups were reported and compared.
Results: Among 48 patients with MM diagnosed with COVID-19 (63% male; median age 66), 33 received chemotherapy. The most common symptoms were fever, cough, and dyspnea, and there was no significant difference between the groups. Only D-dimer had a significant difference in laboratory tests (P = 0.03) and was higher in the chemotherapy group. There was no significant relationship between chemotherapy and severity (risk ratio (RR) = 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.37 to 3.71; P = 0.79) or chemotherapy and mortality (RR= 1.00; 95% CI: 0.39 to 2.61; P = 0.99), even after adjusting for baseline C-reactive protein and white blood cell counts.
Conclusion: Our study showed that receiving Bortezomib-containing chemotherapy regimens did not worsen the symptoms and prognosis of MM patients infected with COVID-19. However, further studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up times are needed to provide better evidence on this subject.

Highlights

Mehran Sharifi (Google Scholar)

Keywords

COVID-19
Cancer
Hematologic neoplasms
Multiple myeloma
Bortezomib

How to cite this article:

Rezaeian Z, Abedini F, Arabzadeh S, Farzan M, Sharifi M, Manteghinejad A. The effect of Bortezomib regimen on multiple myeloma patients infected with COVID-19. Middle East J Cancer. 2023; 14(4):537-42. doi: 10.30476/mejc.2022.95615.1784.

 

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