Covid-19: radiotherapy for the treatment of severely affected patients, a promising path

To treat the patients most severely affected by Covid-19, science is still fumbling. Since the start of the first wave, researchers around the world have raised the possibility of using radiation therapy to treat patients’ lungs. Since then, studies on the subject have shown promising results. Éric Deutsch, head of Gustave Roussy’s radiotherapy department (IGR) detailed these findings in an interview published in the columns of the scientific journal La Recherche.

“This pulmonary-radiotherapy link dates back to the 1930s and 1940s, when American publications describe that very low dose irradiation of the lungs made it possible to quickly cure some patients who had bacterial or viral infections.”, the researcher tells the magazine. “When the first wave of Covid began, in January 2020, at a time when no one was sure what to do, there was a discussion among all the radiotherapist oncologists on the planet whether to dig up this idea and use in the desperation of low radiation therapy. dosage “.

While some scientists were skeptical, others decided to try the experiment with a small number of patients. In the United States, Iran, India, Spain and Brazil the results are encouraging. At Emory University in Atlanta, early data show that with low irradiation there is no risk of aggravation and that there is also a rapid improvement in patients’ conditions. A team from the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran also reports an improvement in the conditions of some patients. And in late November, a Madrid team posted with positive conclusions with even lower doses than Atlanta’s. “In summary, they all come to the conclusion that low doses are well tolerated, that there is no severe radiation-induced deterioration in patients, and that there are patients who are improving. In fact.”, pointing to Eric Deutsch.

In France, patient studies have been rejected several times by the personal protection committees. But thanks to experiments on mice and fragments of human lungs, the team of scientists led by Eric Deutsch has already shown that low doses of irradiation were able to inhibit pneumonia, even with doses even lower than those used. elsewhere in the world. Good news knowing that too high doses can be carcinogenic. “But to refuse to irradiate someone who has a life expectancy of less than three weeks if nothing is done about giving them the risk (which is not certain) of having cancer at 10 or 15 years, the risk / benefit ratio is clearly in favor of irradiation “, notes the researcher who hopes to quickly get the green light to start trials on Covid patients.