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| Photo credit -- Hoffman La Roche, Ltd |
later, his CT scan showed his coronavirus symptoms had cleared, a new report in the journal Blood Advances shows.
The case study suggests that the immunosuppressant tocilizumab (ACTEMRA®) may be an effective COVID-19 treatment for very ill patients who also have multiple myeloma or other blood cancers.
His blood levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (substances secreted by the immune system) were high. Doctors gave him tocillizumab, which specifically blocks those cytokines. Tocilizumab is commonly used to treat cytokine release syndrome, a systemic inflammatory response that occurs in response to treatment with certain types of immunotherapies. The man’s cytokine levels decreased and three days later the chest tightness resolved and he was discharged from the hospital 10 days later.
The authors of the case study published it in hopes that it may offer insights and offer research approaches into treatment of COVID-19.
In March 2020, the FDA approved a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravenous tocilizumab for the treatment of adult patients with COVID-19.
The man had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells, in 2015 was undergoing maintenance therapy for the disease when he was hospitalized in February for chest tightness and shortness of breath. He tested positive for COVID-19, and was treated with antiviral and corticosteroids, but those had little affect on his symptoms. A chest CT scan showed the "ground glass" formations in his lungs that is a classic characteristic of pneumonia.
Source: American Society of Hematology press release
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