The COVID-19 pandemic is a rapidly evolving crisis worldwide. Cancer patients represent a highly vulnerable group during this pandemic and are facing the most severe and critical consequences of this outbreak. This study aims to present our local data and contribute to our existing knowledge on the clinical impact of this novel disease on cancer patients.
We conducted a retrospective, single center, cohort study of cancer patients with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection admitted in a tertiary hospital in Quezon City, Philippines from March to May 2020. Clinical characteristics, laboratory data and treatment histories were compared between patients with mild and severe outcomes. Chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were applied to analyze the differences between groups.
Nineteen cancer patients with COVID-19 infection were included. The most common tumor types were breast (26.3%), lung (21%), and genitourinary cancer (10.5%), and majority had early stage cancer (63.2%). Fifteen patients (78.9%) had recent anti-cancer treatment within 2 weeks prior to admission, most commonly, cytotoxic (21.05%) and targeted therapy (21.05%). Among patients who developed severe outcomes, most had lung cancer, stage IV disease, recent anti-cancer treatment, and higher levels of inflammatory markers. Findings of bilateral opacities on chest x-ray (p=0.009) and ground glass densities on chest CT scan (p = 0.002) were significantly associated with having severe complications. Having nosocomial-acquired infection was also associated with severe outcomes (p=0.004).
We found that those with recent anti-cancer treatment, particularly chemotherapy, have higher rates of severe complications; and that hospital-acquired infection is common among cancer patients and is associated with severe illness. Our study is limited by its small population, though our findings are consistent with other published studies. Our findings suggest that cancer patients require urgent and special attention during the pandemic, especially those who are receiving anti-cancer treatment.
The authors.
Has not received any funding.
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.