Frontiers in Oncology (Nov 2020)

Cancer History and Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy Independently Predict COVID-19 Mortality: A UK Tertiary Hospital Experience

  • Christopher C. T. Sng,
  • Yien Ning Sophia Wong,
  • Yien Ning Sophia Wong,
  • Anjui Wu,
  • Diego Ottaviani,
  • Neha Chopra,
  • Myria Galazi,
  • Sarah Benafif,
  • Gehan Soosaipillai,
  • Rebecca Roylance,
  • Rebecca Roylance,
  • Alvin J. X. Lee,
  • Alvin J. X. Lee,
  • Heather Shaw

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2020.595804
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

Read online

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic remains a pressing concern to patients with cancer as countries enter the second peak of the pandemic and beyond. It remains unclear whether cancer and its treatment contribute an independent risk for mortality in COVID-19.MethodsWe included patients at a London tertiary hospital with laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. All patients with a history of solid cancer were included. Age- and sex-matched patients without cancer were randomly selected. Patients with hematological malignancies were excluded.ResultsWe identified 94 patients with cancer, matched to 226 patients without cancer. After adjusting for age, ethnicity, and co-morbidities, patients with cancer had increased mortality following COVID-19 (HR 1.57, 95% CI:1.04–2.4, p = 0.03). Increasing age (HR 1.49 every 10 years, 95% CI:1.25–1.8, p < 0.001), South Asian ethnicity (HR 2.92, 95% CI:1.73–4.9, p < 0.001), and cerebrovascular disease (HR 1.93, 95% CI:1.18–3.2, p = 0.008) also predicted mortality. Within the cancer cohort, systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) within 60 days of COVID-19 diagnosis was an independent risk factor for mortality (HR 2.30, 95% CI: 1.16–4.6, p = 0.02).ConclusionsAlong with known risk factors, cancer and SACT confer an independent risk for mortality following COVID-19. Further studies are needed to understand the socio-economic influences and pathophysiology of these associations.

Keywords