Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug 25:15:4907-4920.
doi: 10.2147/JIR.S378347. eCollection 2022.

Remdesivir Reduces Mortality in Hemato-Oncology Patients with COVID-19

Bogusz Jan Aksak-Wąs  1 , Daniel Chober  1 , Karol Serwin  1 , Kaja Scheibe  1 , Jolanta Niścigorska-Olsen  2 , Anna Niedźwiedź  3 , Monika Dobrowolska  3 , Katarzyna Żybul  4 , Marta Kubacka  4 , Agnieszka Zimoń  5 , Ewa Hołda  4 , Joanna Mieżyńska-Kurtycz  4 , Marta Gryczman  6 , Grzegorz Jamro  7 , Paweł Szakoła  8 , Miłosz Parczewski  1
Affiliations

Remdesivir Reduces Mortality in Hemato-Oncology Patients with COVID-19

Bogusz Jan Aksak-Wąs et al. J Inflamm Res. .

Abstract

Introduction: Remdesivir is the first agent with proven clinical efficacy against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, its benefit is associated with early use, and its efficacy has been poorly studied in patients with hemato-oncological diseases, who have an increased risk of a severe course of infection. This study aimed to assess the effects of remdesivir on mortality, mechanical ventilation, and the duration of hospitalization in both the general population and in patients with hemato-oncological diseases.

Materials and methods: Longitudinal data for 4287 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were analyzed, including a subset of 200 individuals with hemato-oncological diseases. In total, 1285 (30.0%) patients received remdesivir, while the remaining patients were treated with other methods. Survival statistics for the 14- and 30-day observation time points were calculated using non-parametric and multivariate Cox models.

Results: Mortality for the 14- and 30-day observation time points was notably lower among patients receiving remdesivir (7.2% vs 11.6%, p < 0.001 and 12.7% vs 16.0, p = 0.005, respectively); however, in multivariate models adjusted for age, sex, lung involvement, and lactate dehydrogenase and interleukin-6 levels, the administration of remdesivir did not reduce patient mortality at either the 14-day or 30-day time points. Among patients with haemato-oncological disease, significant survival benefit was observed at 14 and 30 days for patients treated with remdesivir (11.3% vs.16.7% and 24.2% vs 26.1%, respectively; p < 0.001). A favorable effect of remdesivir was also noted for the 14-day time point in multivariate survival analysis (HR:4.03 [95% confidence interval:1.37-11.88]; p = 0.01).

Conclusion: Remdesivir significantly reduced the early mortality rate in COVID-19 patients with comorbid hemato-oncological disease, which emphasizes the need to administer this agent to immunosuppressed patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-COV-2; hemato-oncology; mortality; remdesivir.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Professor Miłosz Parczewski reports grants from National Centre for Scientific Research, during the conduct of the study. The authors declare no other conflicts of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of remdesivir treatment on 14-day survival in the haemato-oncology group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO Director-General’s remarks at the media briefing on 2019-nCoV on 11 February 2020 [Internet]. [cited March 12, 2022]. Available from: https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-genera.... Accessed August 18, 2022.
    1. Hu B, Guo H, Zhou P, Shi ZL. Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2021;19(3):141–154. doi:10.1038/s41579-020-00459-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Flisiak R, Rzymski P, Zarębska-Michaluk D, et al. Demographic and clinical overview of hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the first 17 months of the pandemic in Poland. J Clin Med. 2021;11(1):117. doi:10.3390/jcm11010117 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. ArcGIS Dashboards [Internet]; [cited March 12, 2022]. Available from: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf. Accessed August 18, 2022.
    1. Ko JY, Danielson ML, Town M, et al. Risk Factors for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-Associated Hospitalization: COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Clin Infect Dis. 2021;72(11):E695–703. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1419 - DOI - PMC - PubMed