SERM drug therapy to counter SARS-CoV-2 infection and virus development
04.03.2021
Published in the scientific journal ‘Annals of Oncology’, the paper entitled Clinical outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection in breast and ovarian cancer patients underwent anti-estrogenic therapy was authored by researchers Monica Montopoli (VIMM-University of Padua) and Arianna Calcinotto (IOR of Bellinzona). The research demonstrates how SERM drugs (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators) could possibly counteract SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent virus development. Carried out in close collaboration between VIMM-University of Padua, the Veneto Cancer Registry and the IOR of Bellinzona, the study examined 51,060 women from the Veneto Region who have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Building on the work and research carried out at VIMM last year that showed patients with prostate cancer treated with androgen deprivation therapies (ADT) demonstrated a lower risk of infection and development of Covid-19 than patients with untreated prostate cancer. The study focused on the possible role of steroid hormones in the Covid-19 therapeutic strategy.
The study investigates how sex hormones influence those infected with Covid-19. Sex hormones play a role in regulating the immune system, which then effects proteins involved in SARS Cov-2 infection, such as ACE2 and TMPRSS differently. Using the sample of women tested, there was a reduced prevalence of infection in patients undergoing hormone-dependent tumors SERM therapy (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators). This suggests an off-target effect played by SERMs that potentially involves an alteration in the mechanism of between the virus and the host cell, identifying a possible clinical use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The results, in line with the recent discovery developed by Exscalate4CoV, the public-private consortium supported by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 call, provides for an efficacy of raloxifene as a potential drug against COVID-19 that will be further validated by a larger cohort of women infected with SARS-Cov-2 and corrected for several variables.
The Associated Investigator from VIMM, Dr Monica Montopoli, states, "In order to validate the hypothesis that hormone regulation shows implicating in the clinical outcome of COVID-19 patients, we evaluated the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, and death in women with hormone-dependent tumors being treated with anti-estrogen therapy. Although a larger sample and further molecular studies to better understand the mechanism and protective effect observed in females being treated with SERMs is needed, the study may identify a possible way to prevent or mitigate the effects of the virus.”
