ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread worldwide rapidly and patients with cancer have been considered as a vulnerable group for this infection. This study aimed to examine the expressions of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) in tumor tissues of six common cancer types. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The expression levels of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in tumors and control samples were obtained from online databases. Survival prognosis and biological functions of these genes were investigated for each tumor type. RESULTS: There was the overexpression of ACE2 in colon and stomach adenocarcinomas compared to controls, meanwhile colon and prostate adenocarcinomas showed a significantly higher expression of TMPRSS2. Additionally, survival prognosis analysis has demonstrated that upregulation of ACE2 in liver hepatocellular carcinoma was associated with higher overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.65; p=0.016) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.66; p=0.007), while overexpression of TMPRSS2 was associated with a 26% reduced risk of death in lung adenocarcinoma (p=0.047) but 50% increased risk of death in breast invasive carcinoma (p=0.015). CONCLUSION: There is a need to take extra precautions for COVID-19 in patients with colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, and lung cancer. Further information on other types of cancer at different stages should be investigated.
Subject(s)
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2/genetics , COVID-19/diagnosis , Neoplasms/diagnosis , Neoplasms/genetics , Serine Endopeptidases/genetics , Adenocarcinoma/complications , Adenocarcinoma/diagnosis , Adenocarcinoma/epidemiology , Adenocarcinoma/genetics , Breast Neoplasms/complications , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology , Breast Neoplasms/genetics , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/genetics , Case-Control Studies , Databases as Topic , Female , Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/complications , Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/diagnosis , Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/epidemiology , Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/complications , Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis , Liver Neoplasms/epidemiology , Liver Neoplasms/genetics , Lung Neoplasms/complications , Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis , Lung Neoplasms/epidemiology , Lung Neoplasms/genetics , Male , Mutation , Neoplasms/complications , Neoplasms/epidemiology , Pandemics , Prognosis , Prostatic Neoplasms/complications , Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnosis , Prostatic Neoplasms/epidemiology , Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2/physiology , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the association between six air pollutants and COVID-19 infection in two main clusters, which accounted for 83% of total confirmed cases in Korea. METHODS: We collected the data on daily confirmed cases between February 24, 2020 and September 12, 2020. Data on six air pollutants (PM2.5 , PM10 , O3 , NO2 , CO and SO2 ) and four meteorological factors (temperature, wind speed, humidity and air pressure) were obtained on seven days prior to the research period. The generalised additive model and the distributed lag nonlinear model were applied to generate the relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations. Pooled estimates for clusters were obtained by applying a random-effects model. RESULTS: We found that NO2 concentration was positively associated with daily confirmed cases in both Seoul-Gyeonggi and Daegu-Gyeongbuk clusters, with RRs (95% CIs) of 1.22 (1.03-1.44) and 1.66 (1.25-2.19), respectively. However, SO2 concentration was observed to be associated with daily confirmed cases in the Seoul-Gyeonggi cluster only (RR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.10-1.54), whereas PM2.5 and CO concentrations were observed to be associated with daily confirmed cases in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk cluster only (RR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.02-1.27 and RR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.15-1.48, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our data found that NO2 concentration was positively associated with daily confirmed cases in both clusters, whereas the effect of PM2.5 , CO and SO2 on COVID-19 infection in two clusters was different.