Issues

Patients with cancer may be more susceptible to severe COVID-19, perhaps in part because of the effects of cancer treatments. In light of this, Luo and colleagues investigated whether PD-1 blockade was associated with COVID-19 severity in patients with lung cancer. In 69 patients at a single institution in New York City, there was no significant association between PD-1 blockade and COVID-19 severity, even when the immunotherapy had been administered recently prior to COVID-19 diagnosis. This work suggests that PD-1 blockade should be used when clinically indicated despite the pandemic, a finding that will be further investigated in follow-up studies with greater numbers of patients. For more information, see the article by Luo and colleagues on page 1121.