In the clip above, the chief physician at the urology clinic explains how the medicine works.
The study is a collaboration between several universities, university hospitals and clinics. The purpose of the study is to see if a drug used in the treatment of prostate cancer can help people affected by covid-19 by shortening the course of the disease and reducing the need for intensive care.
In Jönköping, a collaboration is now being carried out between the infection clinic, the urology clinic, laboratory medicine and Futurum to contribute to the study. And now the region has already included the first covid patient in Sweden in the study.
- Once we have found a patient who fits in, I give the patient information and if the patient says yes, some patients are drawn to take this medicine. Then we take blood samples and do various checks and finally we give the patient this medicine. Then we follow the patient for six months, the first days extra closely, says Yvonne Pantzar, who is a research nurse throughout the study.
Uses data from ItalyAccording to a press release from the Jönköping County Region, data from Italy show that the men who were treated with a drug for prostate cancer to a much lesser extent suffered from covid-19 in comparison with other groups. They also write that there is a possibility that testosterone makes the immune system in men worse at dealing with an infection of SARS-CoV-2, which is one reason why the drug could affect this.
Then a result can be presentedA preliminary result of the study may be presented in a few years.
- The patients will be closely monitored during the study and they will have a return visit after six months and we must include quite a few patients before we can comment on the effect, says Anna J Henningsson, who is responsible for the study and medically responsible for clinical microbiology.