Abstract
Introduction: Cancer patients are at higher risk of COVID-19 severe complications and also demonstrated a lower antibodies conversion after vaccination. Therefore, therapeutic approaches after COVID-19 infection are needed in this population. Repurposing drugs has emerged as an appealing strategy during pandemic, and drugs such as angiotensin 2 antagonists and ivermectin may have a role against COVID-19.
Objective: This trial evaluated losartan plus ivermectin aimed at decreasing the incidence of severe outcomes due to coronavirus infection among cancer patients.
Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled phase II study. Cancer patients with recent diagnosis of mild to moderate COVID-19 were randomized to receive 50 mg of losartan for 15 days plus a single dose of 12 mg of ivermectin or placebo. The primary endpoint was the incidence of severe complications, defined as a need for admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), need for mechanical ventilation (MV), or death. Secondary endpoints were safety and adherence.
Results: Thirty-five patients were randomized to intervention arm and 34 to placebo arm. Seven (20%) patients in the losartan + ivermectin arm experienced severe outcomes versus 8 (23.5%) patients in the placebo arm (p = 1.00). No difference was observed in the need for intensive care unit (17.1% versus 17.6%; p = 1.00) or in the need for mechanical ventilation (17.1% versus 11.8%; p = 0.73). Four patients died in the losartan + ivermectin arm, while 3 in the placebo arm (11.4% versus 8.8%; p = 1.00). Severe adverse events and adherence were similar between groups.
Conclusions and Relevance: The combination of losartan and ivermectin did not improve severe COVID-19 outcomes among cancer patients. This is the first study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov that evaluates active treatment for COVID-19 exclusively for cancer patients. and more studies should be performed for a more aggressive approach in this high-risk population.