Improved Survival of Lymphoma Patients with COVID-19 in the Modern Treatment and Vaccination Era

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Patients with lymphoma are at greater risk of complications from COVID-19 infection. However, limited data exists on COVID-19-related outcomes in lymphoma patients since the use of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments began. Our study reports the real-world outcomes of 68 lymphoma or CLL patients who developed COVID-19 infection during the omicron surge in the US. We found that 34% of patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection. The COVID-19-associated death rate was 9% (6/68) in all patients and 26% (6/23) in hospitalized patients, which was much lower compared to rates earlier in the pandemic prior to the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. In 30 patients with data available, 60% did not make antibodies after COVID-19 vaccination. Most patients (74%, 17/23) who were hospitalized did not receive COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment. Our results pointed to important differences and the need for a new approach to treating cancer patients with COVID-19 infection. ABSTRACT: Lymphoma patients are at greater risk of severe consequences from COVID-19 infection, yet most reports of COVID-19-associated outcomes were published before the advent of COVID-19 vaccinations and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). In this retrospective study, we report the real-world outcomes of 68 lymphoma or CLL patients who developed COVID-19 infection during the omicron surge in the US. We found that 34% of patients were hospitalized as a result of COVID-19 infection. The death rate due to COVID-19 was 9% (6/68) in the overall population and 26% (6/23) in hospitalized patients. During the preintervention COVID-19 era, the mortality rate reported in cancer patients was 34%, which increased to 60.2% in hospitalized patients. Thus, the death rates in our study were much lower when compared to those in cancer patients earlier in the pandemic, and may be attributed to modern interventions. In our study, 60% (18/30) of patients with serology data available did not develop anti-COVID-19 spike protein antibodies following vaccination. Most patients (74%, 17/23) who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 infection did not receive COVID-19 mAb treatment. Our results pointed to the importance of humoral immunity and the protective effect of COVID-19 mAbs in improving outcomes in lymphoma patients.