Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in patients before, during, or after lung irradiation, and serum SP‐A and SP‐D levels

BACKGROUND: The correlation between COVID‐19 and RT has not been determined to date and remains a clinical question. The aim of this study was to evaluate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pneumonia before, during, and after radiation therapy (RT) regarding the radiation doses, radiation pneumonitis, and surfactant protein levels. METHODS: We evaluated patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 before, during, or after RT for the lung between August 2020 and April 2022. In patients with breast cancer, the RT dose to the ipsilateral lung was determined. In all other patients, bilateral lung RT doses were determined. Patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 after RT were evaluated to determine whether radiation pneumonitis had worsened compared with before RT. The serum levels of the surfactant proteins SP‐A and SP‐D were measured before, during, and after RT. RESULTS: The patients included in the study comprised three men (27.3%) and eight women (72.7%). The primary cancer sites were the breast (n = 7; 63.7%), lung (n = 2; 18.1%), esophagus (n = 1; 9.1%), and tongue (9.1%). COVID‐19 was diagnosed before RT in four patients, during RT in two patients, and after RT in five patients. Six (54.5%) patients developed COVID‐19 pneumonia. Radiation pneumonitis grade ≥2 was not identified in any patient, and radiation pneumonitis did not worsen after RT in any patient. No rapid increases or decreases in SP‐A and SP‐D levels occurred after the diagnosis of COVID‐19 in all patients regardless of RT timing. CONCLUSIONS: COVID‐19 did not appear to result in lung toxicity and surfactant protein levels did not change dramatically.