Immunotherapy good for patients: Study

New York: Researchers have now shown that immunotherapy doesn't necessarily worsen complications for patients with both Covid-19 and cancer.

"Many Covid-19 complications result from an overactive immune response, leading to an increased production of proteins called cytokines," said study researcher Layne Weatherford from the University of Cincinnati (UC) in the US.

"Increased production of these proteins can cause issues like a respiratory failure. Patients with cancer are more susceptible to Covid-19 infection as well as severe complications from it," Weatherford added. According to the researchers, many patients with cancer are treated with immunotherapy, which activates the immune system against cancer to destroy it. In patients with both Covid-19 and cancer, the research team thought that immunotherapy might increase the immune system response, which could already be overactive because of the Covid-19 infection.