Scientific publications
SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with melanoma: results of the Spanish Melanoma Group registry
Maria Gonzalez-Cao 1 , Teresa Puertolas 2 , Clara Martinez-Vila 3 , Cristina Carrera 4 , Cayetana Maldonado Seral 5 , Pedro Rodríguez-Jiménez 6 , Silvia Sequero 7 , Pablo Cerezuela-Fuentes 8 , Rosa Feltes Ochoa 9 , Eva Muñoz 10 11 , Mónica Antoñanzas Basa 12 , Juan Martín-Liberal 13 , Ainara Soria 14 , Juan Francisco Rodriguez Moreno 15 , Ivan Marquez-Rodas 16 , Pilar Lopez Criado 17 , José Luis Manzano 18 , Rafael Lopez-Castro 19 , Pablo Ayala de Miguel 20 , Laura Villalobos 21 , Salvador Martin Algarra 22 , Ines Gonzalez-Barrallo 23 , Aram Boada 24 , Almudena García Castaño 25 , Susana Puig 4 , Guillermo Crespo 26 , Pablo Luna Fra 27 , Cristina Aguayo Zamora 28 , Marta Feito Rodríguez 9 , Lara Valles 29 , Ana Drozdowskyj 30 , Jesús Gardeazabal 31 , Luis Antonio Fernandez-Morales 32 , Alberto Rodrigo 33 , Raquel Cruz 34 , Oriol Yelamos 35 , Belen Rubio 36 , Karmele Mujica 37 , Mariano Provencio 38 , Alfonso Berrocal 39 ; Spanish Melanoma Group (GEM)
Background: The Spanish Melanoma Group (GEM) developed a national registry of patients with melanoma infected by SARS-CoV-2 ("GRAVID").
Methods: The main objective was to describe the COVID-19 fatality rate in patients with melanoma throughout the pandemic, as well as to explore the effect of melanoma treatment and tumor stage on the risk of COVID-19 complications. These are the final data of the register, including cases from February 2020 to September 2021.
Results: One hundred-fifty cases were registered. Median age was 68 years (range 6-95), 61 (40%) patients were females, and 63 (42%) patients had stage IV. Thirty-nine (26%) were on treatment with immunotherapy, and 17 (11%) with BRAF-MEK inhibitors. COVID-19 was resolved in 119 cases, including 85 (57%) patients cured, 15 (10%) that died due to melanoma, and 20 (13%) that died due to COVID-19. Only age over 60 years, cardiovascular disorders, and diabetes mellitus increased the risk of death due to COVID-19, but not advanced melanoma stage nor melanoma systemic therapies. Three waves have been covered by the register: February-May 2020, August-November 2020, and December 2020-April 2021. The first wave had the highest number of registered cases and COVID-19 mortality.
Conclusion: Tumor stage or melanoma treatments are non-significant prognostic factors for COVID-19 mortality. During the pandemic in Spain there was a downward trend in the number of patients registered across the waves, as well as in the severity of the infection.
CITATION Clin Transl Oncol. 2023 Mar;25(3):768-775. doi: 10.1007/s12094-022-02985-7. Epub 2022 Dec 24.
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