Table 1.
Systemic anticancer therapies undergoing prospective evaluation in the treatment of COVID-19. 58 of 1243 (5%) ongoing phase 2 or 3 trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, as of November 23, 2021, utilize one or more drugs with known anti-cancer effects, many of which have FDA cancer-specific indications. Corticosteroids (dexamethasone, prednisone, etc.) are not included in this list, nor are tofacitinib/baricitinib, which are Janus kinase inhibitors but do not have known anti-cancer activity. Drugs listed only by code name on ClinicalTrials.gov were also not further evaluated for inclusion in this table.
| Drug | Drug class | Cancer indication1 | Clinical trials |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acalabrutinib | BTK inhibitor | CLL/SLL; Mantle cell lymphoma | Phase 3: NCT04647669 |
| ATRA | Retinoid | Acute promyelocytic leukemia | Phase 2: NCT04568096, NCT05077813 |
| BCG | Non-specific immunotherapy | Bladder cancer | Phase 2: NCT02081326, NCT04659941 Phase 3: NCT04327206, NCT04328441, NCT04350931, NCT04379336, NCT04384549, NCT04461379, NCT04475302, NCT04542330, NCT04648800 |
| Bevacizumab | Anti-VEGF antibody | Breast cancer; Cervical cancer; Colorectal cancer; Glioblastoma; HCC; NSCLC; Ovarian cancer; RCC | Phase 2: NCT04344782 |
| Dasatinib | TKI | CML; Ph+ ALL | Phase 2: NCT04830735 |
| Decitabine | Hypomethylating agent | CMML; MDS | Phase 2: NCT04482621 |
| Duvelisib | PI3K inhibitor | CLL/SLL; Follicular lymphoma | Phase 2: NCT04372602, NCT04487886 |
| Enzalutamide | ARI | Prostate cancer | Phase 2: NCT04456049 |
| Etoposide | Topoisomerase inhibitor | Testicular cancer; SCLC | Phase 2: NCT04356690 |
| Ibrutinib | BTK inhibitor | CLL/SLL; Mantle cell lymphoma; Marginal zone lymphoma, Waldenström macroglobulinemia | Phase 2: NCT04439006, NCT04665115 |
| Imatinib | TKI | CML; DFSP; GIST; MDS; Ph+ ALL; Systemic mastocytosis | Phase 2: NCT04346147, NCT04794088, NCT04953052 Phase 3: NCT04394416, NCT04422678 |
| Interferon2 | Non-specific immunotherapy | CML; Follicular lymphoma; Hairy cell leukemia; Kaposi sarcoma; Melanoma | Phase 2: NCT04379518, NCT04988217, NCT04480138, NCT04356495 Phase 3: NCT04534725 |
| Isotretinoin | Retinoid | None3 | Phase 2: NCT04730895, NCT04577378, NCT04578236, NCT05077813, NCT04389580 Phase 3: NCT04353180 |
| Masitinib | TKI | None4 | Phase 2: NCT05047783 |
| Melphalan | Alkylating agent | Multiple myeloma; Ovarian cancer | Phase 2: NCT04380376 |
| Methotrexate | Antimetabolite | ALL; Breast cancer; GTD; Head & neck cancer; Meningeal leukemia; Mycosis fungoides; NHL; NSCLC; Osteosarcoma; SCLC | Phase 2: NCT04352465, NCT04610567 |
| Nintedanib | TKI | None4 | Phase 2: NCT04338802 Phase 3: NCT04541680 |
| Nivolumab | Anti-PD-1 antibody | Bladder cancer; Colorectal cancer; Esophageal cancer; Gastric cancer; Head & neck cancer; HCC; Hodgkin lymphoma; Melanoma; Mesothelioma; NSCLC; RCC | Phase 2: NCT04343144, NCT04356508, NCT04413838 |
| Pembrolizumab | Anti-PD-1 antibody | Bladder cancer; Cervical cancer; Colorectal cancer; Cutaneous SCC; Endometrial cancer; Esophageal cancer; Gastric cancer; Head & neck cancer; HCC; Hodgkin lymphoma; Melanoma; Merkel cell carcinoma; MSI-H or dMMR solid tumors; NSCLC; PMBCL; RCC; TMB-H solid tumors; TNBC | Phase 2: NCT04335305 |
| Ruxolitinib | JAK inhibitor | Myelofibrosis; Polycythemia vera | Phase 2: NCT04581954, NCT04348695, NCT04403243, NCT04414098 Phase 3: NCT04424056 |
| Selinexor | XPO1 inhibitor | DLBCL; Multiple myeloma | Phase 3: NCT04534725 |
| Sirolimus | mTOR inhibitor | None3 | Phase 2: NCT04341675, NCT04461340 |
| Tamoxifen | SERM | Breast cancer | Phase 2: NCT04389580, NCT04568096 |
| Thalidomide | Immunomodulator (IMiD) | Multiple myeloma | Phase 2: NCT04273529, NCT04273581 |
| Uproleselan | E-selectin antagonist | None4 | Phase 2: NCT05057221 |
US Food and Drug Administration approved indication. Many of these drugs have additional off-label uses, which are not reported here
Includes alpha interferons, but not beta or lambda interferons, which do not have an established role in anti-cancer treatment
No FDA-approved cancer indication; used off-label for some cancer conditions
Not yet FDA-approved for any indication; has preliminary data or non-FDA approval for some cancer conditions
Acronyms: ALL: acute lymphoblastic leukemia; ARI: androgen receptor inhibitor; ATRA: all-trans retinoic acid; BCG: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin; BTK: Bruton tyrosine kinase; CLL: chronic lymphocytic leukemia; CML: chronic myelogenous leukemia; CMML: chronic myelomonocytic leukemia; DFSP: dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans; DLBC: diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; dMMR: mismatch repair deficient; GIST: gastrointestinal stromal tumor; GTD: gestational trophoblastic disease; HCC: hepatocellular carcinoma; JAK: Janus kinase; MDS: myelodysplastic syndrome; MSI-H: microsatellite instability-high; mTOR: mammalian target of rapamycin; NHL: non-Hodgkin lymphoma; NSCLC: non-small cell lung cancer; PD-1: programmed death receptor-1; Ph+ ALL: Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia; PI3K: phosphoinositide 3-kinase; PMBCL: primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma; RCC: renal cell carcinoma; SCC: squamous cell carcinoma; SCLC: small cell lung cancer; SERM: selective estrogen receptor modulator; SLL: small lymphocytic lymphoma; TKI: tyrosine kinase inhibitor; TMB-H: tumor mutational burden-high; TNBC: triple-negative breast cancer; VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor; XPO1: exportin 1