Researchers have found the known risk factors for 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), such as age, race, and the co-existence of certain medical conditions, also hold true for women with cancer. Bhavana Pothuri, MD, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of gynecologic oncology clinical trials at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, speaks with Pat Farnak of WCBS Newsradio 880’s Health & Well-Being podcast about ongoing research on COVID-19 and gynecologic cancer. Dr. Pothuri and her colleagues, for example, recently found that immunotherapy increased the risk of death in people with gynecologic cancer.

“We’re working on really evaluating that question of immunotherapy and the risk of death due to COVID-19,” Dr. Pothuri says. “And we were concerned about a few preliminary findings, such as younger Black women with gynecologic cancer were more likely to die of COVID-19 disease.”

Listen to Dr. Pothuri’s full interview on WCBS Newsradio 880.