CAPTURE: Cancer and COVID-19 antiviral immune monitoring study
Authors: Annika Fendler, Laurie Boos, Lewis Au, Scott Shepherd, Fiona Byrne, Kim Edmonds, Ellie Carlyle, Lyra Del Rosario, Ben Shum, James Larkin, Lisa Pickering, Andrew Furness, Samra Turajlic, Capture Investigators
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2020)

Introduction: Certain retrospective and registry-based studies have indicated a higher risk of COVID-19 adverseoutcomes in cancer, but a detailed understanding of the immune response in cancer patients and the impact ofcancer therapy is needed  CAPTURE is a pan-cancer, prospective longitudinal study established in response to theunique challenges of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for the care of cancer patients  Experimental Procedures: CAPTURE is a multicenter, UK-based longitudinal cohort study that commencedrecruitment in May 2020  Study participants are recruited from a broad range of cancer types and cancerinterventions and irrespective of their SARS-CoV-2 status, in order to capture both the nominator and thedenominator  In addition to cancer patients, the study participants also include health care workers (HCW) for thepurpose of studying transmission dynamics  Detailed clinical, epidemiologic, and demographic data are collectedfrom all participants alongside a range of biologic samples that underpin case definitions and will facilitate immunemonitoring  All participants will be followed up longitudinally for up to five years  Results: The overarching aim is to establish a prospective and unbiased understanding of the susceptibility andmorbidity of COVID-19 in cancer patients and the patterns of viral nosocomial transmission  We will follow uppatients long-term to understand the extent and duration of immunity and how immunity is impacted by cancer type, stage, and therapy  Our comprehensive sampling will help to draw a detailed picture of immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in cancer patients by monitoring active infection, antibody response, and T-cell activation, supplemented bydetailed immunophenotyping, transcriptome, TCR/BCR sequencing, and germline profiling for HLA typing andidentification of disease-associated polymorphisms  Finally, while there is a well-established correlation of circulatingcytokine levels and Covid-19 severity, CAPTURE will identify early indicators of a maladapted inflammatoryresponse in cancer patients by cytokine and chemokine profiling to establish early biomarkers of disease severity Within the first month, we have recruited 95 participants (54% cancer patients, 46% HCWs) with matching swabs, plasma, PBMC, and whole blood for RNA sequencing  Two longitudinal samples were collected on average  Resultsfrom antigen and antibody profiling within this cohort will be presented at the meeting  Conclusion: CAPTURE will provide a detailed understanding of the interaction between immune response toSARS-CoV-2, cancer, and cancer treatments  Results will be informative in a wider health care context in order tominimize harm and maximize cancer outcomes in a sustainable manner  Furthermore, given inherent and iatrogenicdefects in discreet immune cell subsets, this is a key patient cohort to inform a wider understanding of the immuneresponse to SARS-CoV-2