Can torque teno virus be a predictor of SARS-CoV-2 disease progression in cancer patients?

Introduction: Cancer patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection can experience a broad range of clinical manifestations and outcomes. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between torque teno virus (TTV) load and deficiencies of the immune system. The impact of SARS-CoV-2 and TTV viral loads in cancer patients is unknown.Methods: In this retrospective study, 157 cancer patients and 191 noncancer controls were analysed for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and TTV DNA presence.Results: SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 66.2% of cancer patients and in 68.6% of noncancer control subjects. In SARS-CoV-2-positive patients, TTV was detectable in 79.8% of cancer patients, while in controls, TTV was detected in 71.7% of subjects. No statistically significant correlation was found between TTV and SARS-CoV-2 loads in cancer patients. However, the 100-day survival rate in cancer patients who died from COVID-19 was significantly lower in the TTV-positive group than in the TTV-negative group (P = 0.0475). In the cancer TTV-positive group, those who died also had a higher load of TTV than those who did not die (P = 0.0097).Conclusions: Our findings indicated that the presence of TTV in nasopharyngeal swabs from cancer patients was related to a higher number of deaths from COVID-19 and to a higher TTV DNA load.

Automated summary

Cancer patients have a similar detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 RNA compared to non-cancer controls. Among SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, cancer patients have a higher detection rate of TTV compared to controls. The presence of TTV in cancer patients is correlated with higher COVID-19 mortality rate and TTV DNA load.