The evidence linking obesity with ovarian cancer remains controversial. Leptin is expressed at higher levels in obese women and stimulates cell migration in other epithelial cancers. Here, we explored the clinical impact of overweight/obesity on patient prognosis and leptin's effects on the metastatic potential of ovarian cancer cells. We assessed clinical outcomes in 70 ovarian cancer patients (33 healthy weight and 37 overweight) that were validated with an external cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Progression-free and overall survival rates were significantly decreased in overweight patients. Similarly, a worse overall survival rate was found in TCGA patients expressing higher leptin/OB-Rb levels. We explored serum and ascites leptin levels and OB-Rb expression in our cohort. Serum and ascites leptin levels were higher in overweight patients experiencing worse survival. OB-Rb was more highly expressed in ascites and metastases than in primary tumors. Leptin exposure increased cancer cell migration/invasion through leptin-mediated activation of JAK/STAT3, PI3/AKT and RhoA/ROCK and promoted new lamellipodial, stress-fiber and focal adhesion formation. Leptin also contributed to the maintenance of stemness and the mesenchymal phenotype in ovarian cancer cells. Our findings demonstrate that leptin stimulated ovarian cancer cell migration and invasion, offering a potential explanation for the poor prognosis among obese women.

Mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID‐19 has declined over the course of the pandemic. Mortality trends specifically in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR) are unknown. Using data from a multicenter registry of SOTR hospitalized for COVID‐19, we compared 28‐day mortality between early 2020 (March 1, 2020–June 19, 2020) and late 2020 (June 20, 2020–December 31, 2020). Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess comorbidity‐adjusted mortality. Time period of diagnosis was available for 1435/1616 (88.8%) SOTR and 971/1435 (67.7%) were hospitalized: 571/753 (75.8%) in early 2020 and 402/682 (58.9%) in late 2020 ( p < .001). Crude 28‐day mortality decreased between the early and late periods (112/571 [19.6%] vs. 55/402 [13.7%]) and remained lower in the late period even after adjusting for baseline comorbidities (aOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.46–0.98, p = .016). Between the early and late periods, the use of corticosteroids (≥6 mg dexamethasone/day) and remdesivir increased (62/571 [10.9%] vs. 243/402 [61.5%], p < .001 and 50/571 [8.8%] vs. 213/402 [52.2%], p < .001, respectively), and the use of hydroxychloroquine and IL‐6/IL‐6 receptor inhibitor decreased (329/571 [60.0%] vs. 4/492 [1.0%], p < .001 and 73/571 [12.8%] vs. 5/402 [1.2%], p < .001, respectively). Mortality among SOTR hospitalized for COVID‐19 declined between early and late 2020, consistent with trends reported in the general population. The mechanism(s) underlying improved survival require further study.

Lung transplant recipients (LTR) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) may have higher mortality than non‐lung solid organ transplant recipients (SOTR), but direct comparisons are limited. Risk factors for mortality specifically in LTR have not been explored. We performed a multicenter cohort study of adult SOTR with COVID‐19 to compare mortality by 28 days between hospitalized LTR and non‐lung SOTR. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess comorbidity‐adjusted mortality among LTR vs. non‐lung SOTR and to determine risk factors for death in LTR. Of 1,616 SOTR with COVID‐19, 1,081 (66%) were hospitalized including 120/159 (75%) LTR and 961/1457 (66%) non‐lung SOTR (p = .02). Mortality was higher among LTR compared to non‐lung SOTR (24% vs. 16%, respectively, p = .032), and lung transplant was independently associated with death after adjusting for age and comorbidities (aOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0–2.6, p = .04). Among LTR, chronic lung allograft dysfunction (aOR 3.3, 95% CI 1.0–11.3, p = .05) was the only independent risk factor for mortality and age >65 years, heart failure and obesity were not independently associated with death. Among SOTR hospitalized for COVID‐19, LTR had higher mortality than non‐lung SOTR. In LTR, chronic allograft dysfunction was independently associated with mortality.