Why the Novel Coronavirus is more fatal to men than women? Is there any link between prostrate cancer in men and Covid-19? Is a protein receptor abnormally grown in prostrate cancer patients is being used by the virus to enter the lungs and attack lung tissue of men?

These are some of the pertinent questions that a team of researchers from University California Los Angles Health Sciences is exploring to help improve better clinical outcomes for men afflicted with Coronavirus. 

In the UCLA-led clinical trial, researchers will suppress male hormones using the FDA-approved medication known as degarelix, to temporarily shut down the production of TMPRSS2 and block the virus from entering lung tissue.

The decision came after researchers noted that the protein receptor called TMPRSS2 which is abnormal in about half of all prostate cancer patients plays a role in the development and progression of prostate cancer.

The UCLA researchers believe that the virus uses this same receptor to enter the lungs and attack lung tissue. The receptor is regulated by male hormones in prostate cancer, and researchers believe it may also be regulated in lung tissue by male hormones.

The phase 2 trial will assess if temporarily suppressing male hormones will reduce the severity of COVID-19 illness by helping patients get out of the hospital faster, decrease the need for intubation and improve mortality.

The UCLA-led study is being conducted at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and other VA sites across the country.

"It's becoming pretty clear that men are more likely than women to die from COVID-19 and we think there is a connection between prostate cancer research and our understanding of COVID-19 research," said principal investigator Matthew Rettig, professor of medicine and urology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"It's kind of like a lock and key," explained Rettig, who is also the chief of hematology/oncology at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

"If the virus was the key and its receptor is the lock, then the virus inserts into the lock and can gain entry into the lung while the male hormones makes that lock more accessible to the virus. By suppressing the male hormones, it's kind of like putting a piece of masking tape over the lock so that the key won't fit in."

"We're hoping this (the research) will not only help men with COVID-19 get out of the hospital faster, but ultimately, see less men dying from the virus," said Rettig.

Recent data from New York City, the epicenter of infections in the United States, show that men are not only infected in greater

numbers, but they are also dying at nearly twice the rate of women.