Ultra Low Doses of Therapy With Radiation Applicated to COVID-19

Summary

The host response against the coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) appears to be mediated by a 'cytoquine storm' developing a systemic inflammatory mechanism and an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), in the form of a bilateral pneumonitis, requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) in an important group of patients. In terms of preventing progression to the critical phase with the consequent need of admission to the intensive care units (ICU), it has been recently proposed that this inflammatory cytoquine-mediated process can be safely treated by a single course of ultra-low radiotherapy (RT) dose \< 1 Gy. The main purpose of the study was to analyze the efficacy of ultra low-dose pulmonary RT, as an anti-inflammatory intention in patients with SARS-Cov-2 pneumonia with a poor or no response to standard medical treatment and without IMV.

Timeline

Start

2020-04-21

Primary completion

2020-12-31

Completion

2022-03-21

Publications

• Results Kirkby C, Mackenzie M. Is low dose radiation therapy a potential treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia? Radiother Oncol. 2020 Jun;147:221. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2020.04.004. Epub 2020 Apr 6. No abstract available.
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• Results Lara PC, Burgos J, Macias D. Low dose lung radiotherapy for COVID-19 pneumonia. The rationale for a cost-effective anti-inflammatory treatment. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2020 Apr 25;23:27-29. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2020.04.006. eCollection 2020 Jul.
• Moreno-Olmedo E, Suarez-Gironzini V, Perez M, Filigheddu T, Minguez C, Sanjuan-Sanjuan A, Gonzalez JA, Rivas D, Gorospe L, Larrea L, Lopez E. COVID-19 pneumonia treated with ultra-low doses of radiotherapy (ULTRA-COVID study): a single institution report of two cases. Strahlenther Onkol. 2021 May;197(5):429-437. doi: 10.1007/s00066-020-01743-4. Epub 2021 Jan 27.

Drugs

Indications