Overview

• Analysis of UK Biobank and Flatiron Health data found that cancer survivors infected with COVID-19 early in the pandemic faced about double the risk of metastatic death in Britain and a 44% higher risk in the United States Mouse experiments demonstrated that influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infections trigger an IL-6–mediated inflammatory response that disturbs tumour cell dormancy and accelerates lung metastases
• Published in Nature, the research identifies interleukin-6 as the key protein responsible for reactivating dormant cancer cells during common respiratory infections
• Scientists are calling for larger clinical studies to confirm these results and to balance the potential benefits of IL-6 blocking drugs against their immunosuppression risks
• Cancer survivors are being advised to strengthen precautions against respiratory infections while future work explores the roles of viral variants, vaccination status and other pathogens in relapse risk