The Telegraph
Cancer patient saw the disease almost disappear after catching Covid
According to doctors, Covid may have caused tumors of a cancer patient to disappear, saying it could have caused an “immune reaction against the tumor” in the man. The 61-year-old patient at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro underwent an examination last summer after being diagnosed with Hogkin’s Lymphoma, a rare blood cancer that affects 2100 people in the UK each year. The disease, which occurs when white blood cells get out of control and spreads to the lymph nodes, is usually treated with chemotherapy and about 90 percent of patients live another five years after that. Days after being told his chest was full of tumors and before starting treatment, he was admitted to hospital after contracting severe Covid. After fully recovering, he did another scan and discovered that the cancer had almost completely disappeared. Sudden remission with Hogkin’s Lymphoma is possible but is extremely rare. Only a few dozen similar cases have been recorded worldwide. The case was revealed in the British Journal of Hematology. Dr Sarah Challoner, of Royal Cornwall Hospital, said: “We think Covid-19 elicited an immune response against the tumor.” Dr Challoner added that the medical team believes that T cells, which fight infections in the body, may also have attacked cancer cells and led to remission. However, other clinicians have warned against early assumptions about the cause of the recovery. Martin Ledwick, chief nurse for cancer research in the UK, said: “At this stage it is too early to draw conclusions from these cases – it is quite possible that it is coincidental.” Anyone undergoing cancer treatment should continue to follow the advice of their doctors as well as protect themselves from catching Covid-19, and we encourage everyone to take the vaccine. A report in the Italian medical journal Acta Biomedica, published last year, highlighted a similar case at Cremona Hospital in Italy.