COVID-19 in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia on tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy: a Honduran observational study.

Introduction: In the earliest cases of COVID-19, a higher percentage of severe and fatal cases was observed in patients with cancer, including those with haematological malignancies. However, patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) had better prognoses, suggesting that tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) may have a therapeutic effect against SARS-CoV-2. This study describes the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with CML receiving the TKIs tested for SARS-CoV-2 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Methodology: An Results: One hundred and forty-nine patients with Ph+ CML were included; 20.1% were COVID-19-positive; 56% were male; mean age was 46 years; 81% were receiving imatinib, with a mean treatment duration of 6 years; 55% achieved a BCR -ABL molecular response ≤ 0.1% (IS). Twenty-one percent had comorbidities. COVID-19 was asymptomatic in 38.7% of patients, mild in 35.5% and severe in 9.7%. One patient died, a fatality rate of 3.2%. No statistical association was found between disease severity and treatment with imatinib versus second-line TKI (OR: 0.833, Conclusion: Despite high COVID-19 positivity in CML when compared with the literature, this study found a lower fatality rate. The type of TKI used or molecular response at the time of infection was not associated with case severity. Determining the effectiveness of imatinib or other TKIs as a COVID-19 treatment requires randomised clinical trials.