UCLA launches clinical trial to help reduce severity of COVID-19 illness in men
Researchers at UCLA have launched a new clinical trial using a hormone suppressant commonly used to treat men with prostate cancer to help improve clinical outcomes for men infected with COVID-19.A hormone suppressant
The Phase 2 trial will evaluate whether temporary suppression of male hormones will reduce the severity of illness caused by COVID-19 by helping patients get out of hospital faster, reducing the need for intubation and improving mortality.
"It is becoming quite clear that men are more likely than women to die from COVID-19 and we believe there is a link between prostate cancer research and our understanding of COVID-19 research," said lead investigator Matthew Rettig, MD, Professor of Medicine and Urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine.
Recent data from New York City, the epicenter of infections in the United States, show that men are not only being infected in greater numbers, but are also dying at a rate nearly double that of women.
The TMPRSS2
The convergence between prostate cancer research and COVID-19 research begins with a receptor called TMPRSS2, which is abnormal in about half of prostate cancer patients and plays a role in the development and progression of prostate cancer.
This is the same receptor that researchers believe the virus uses to enter the lungs and attack lung tissue. This receptor is regulated by male hormones in the case of prostate cancer, and the researchers believe it may also be regulated in the lung tissue by male hormones.
"It's a bit like a lock and key," Rettig said, "If this virus is the key and its receptor is the lock, then this virus gets into the lock and can get into the lung and the male hormones make that lock more accessible to the virus. Removing the male hormones is a bit like putting a piece of tape on the lock so the key doesn't get in.
In this test they will use degarelix.
In the clinical trial conducted by UCLA, researchers will suppress male hormones using the FDA-approved drug degarelix to temporarily stop the production of TMPRSS2 and prevent the virus from entering lung tissue. "We hope this will not only help men with VIDOC-19 get out of hospital faster, but also help fewer men die from the virus," Rettig said.
