Patients with Cancer Appear More Vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2: A Multicenter Study during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

Abstract The novel COVID-19 outbreak has affected more than 200 countries and territories as of March 2020. Given that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 is needed. We performed a multicenter study including 105 patients with cancer and 536 age-matched noncancer patients confirmed with COVID-19. Our results showed COVID-19 patients with cancer had higher risks in all severe outcomes. Patients with hematologic cancer, lung cancer, or with metastatic cancer (stage IV) had the highest frequency of severe events. Patients with nonmetastatic cancer experienced similar frequencies of severe conditions to those observed in patients without cancer. Patients who received surgery had higher risks of having severe events, whereas patients who underwent only radiotherapy did not demonstrate significant differences in severe events when compared with patients without cancer. These findings indicate that patients with cancer appear more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Significance: Because this is the first large cohort study on this topic, our report will provide much-needed information that will benefit patients with cancer globally. As such, we believe it is extremely important that our study be disseminated widely to alert clinicians and patients. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 747

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Affiliated Institutions

• Brigham and Women's Hospital US
• The Central Hospital of Xiao gan CN
• Wuhan University CN
• Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University CN
• Hubei University of Medicine CN
• Harvard University US
• Boston Children's Hospital US
• Hubei Cancer Hospital CN
• Xiang Yang No.1 People's Hospital CN
• Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University CN
• Guangzhou Medical University CN
• Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center US
• Wuhan Puai Hospital CN
• National University of Singapore SG
• Huanggang Central Hospital CN
• Harvard Stem Cell Institute US
• Tongji Hospital CN
• Huazhong University of Science and Technology CN
• People's Hospital of Shiyan CN
• Union Hospital HK
• Xianning Central Hospital CN
• Meizhou City People's Hospital CN
• Central Hospital of Wuhan CN
• National University Cancer Institute, Singapore SG

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