Supporting Clinical Decision-Making during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic through a Global Research Commitment: The TERAVOLT Experience

Annalisa Trama; Claudia Proto; Jennifer G Whisenant; Valter Torri; Alessio Cortellini; Olivier Michielin; Fabrice Barlesi; Anne-Marie C Dingemans; Jan Van Meerbeeck; Vera Pancaldi; Julien Mazieres; Ross A Soo; Natasha B Leighl; Solange Peters; Heather Wakelee; Leora Horn; Matthew Hellmann; Selina K Wong; Marina Chiara Garassino; Javier Baena

doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2020.10.002

Supporting Clinical Decision-Making during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic through a Global Research Commitment: The TERAVOLT Experience

Cancer Cell. 2020 Nov 9;38(5):602-604. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2020.10.002. Epub 2020 Oct 5.

Authors

Annalisa Trama¹, Claudia Proto², Jennifer G Whisenant³, Valter Torri⁴, Alessio Cortellini⁵, Olivier Michielin⁶, Fabrice Barlesi⁷, Anne-Marie C Dingemans⁸, Jan Van Meerbeeck⁹, Vera Pancaldi¹⁰, Julien Mazieres¹¹, Ross A Soo¹², Natasha B Leighl¹³, Solange Peters⁶, Heather Wakelee¹⁴, Leora Horn¹⁵, Matthew Hellmann¹⁶, Selina K Wong³, Marina Chiara Garassino¹⁷, Javier Baena¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Research, Evaluative Epidemiology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
² Thoracic Oncology Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.
³ Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
⁴ Laboratory of Clinical Research, Methodology Oncology Department "Mario Negri" Institute of Pharmacological Researches, IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
⁵ Department of Biotechnology and Applied Clinical Science, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
⁶ Oncology Department, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
⁷ Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, Villejuif, France; Aix Marseille University, CNRS, INSERM, CRCM, Marseille, France.
⁸ Department of Pulmonology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, and University Maastricht, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Pulmonology and Thoracic Oncology, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium.
¹⁰ University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, Inserm, Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Barcelona.
¹¹ Institut Universitaire du Cancer, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Toulouse, France.
¹² National University Cancer Institute, Singapore.
¹³ Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada.
¹⁴ Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology & Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
¹⁶ Medical Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁷ Thoracic Oncology Unit, Medical Oncology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: marina.garassino@istitutotumori.mi.it.
¹⁸ Medical Oncology Department, Thoracic Cancer and Early Drug Development Unit, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

To understand the real impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients, an entirely new data collection effort was initiated within the Thoracic Cancers International COVID-19 Collaboration (TERAVOLT). TERAVOLT reported high mortality related to COVID-19 infection in thoracic cancer patients and identified several negative prognostic factors. In this commentary, we discuss the importance and limits of patient registries to support decision-making in thoracic cancer during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification*
COVID-19
Clinical Decision-Making*
Coronavirus Infections / complications*
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Global Burden of Disease / standards*
Humans
International Cooperation
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
Practice Guidelines as Topic / standards*
Registries
SARS-CoV-2
Thoracic Neoplasms / epidemiology
Thoracic Neoplasms / therapy*
Thoracic Neoplasms / virology