Epidemiology and clinical course of patients with cancer diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection

ABSTRACT

Background and importance Cancer patients are a vulnerable population for SAR-CoV-2 infection. Aim and objectives The aim of our study was to describe the epidemiology and clinical course of patients with cancer infected with SARS-Cov-2, attending hospital. Material and methods A retrospective observational study was conducted in cancer patients attending a tertiary hospital for SARS-CoV-2 infection during the period 3 January 2020 to 31 May 2020. Demographic and clinical variables were analysed comorbidities, tumour diagnosis, tumour stage and whether they had received anticancer treatment in the last month (active treatment). The clinical course was evaluated by hospital admission, pneumonia, oxygen therapy requirements, the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), admission to ICU, mortality rate and mortality rate <30 days from admission. Quantitative variables were expressed as means (SD). The association between dichotomous variables or proportions was compared using Fisher's exact test and between quantitative variables using the Mann-Whitney U test. Results 112 patients were included, 59.8% (67) were men, mean age 67±13.4 years. 94.6% (106) were Caucasian (4.4% (5) Latino). 61.6% (69) were non-smokers, 25% (28) exsmokers and 13.4% (15) current smokers;11.6% (13) had obesity. The most frequent comorbidities were 57.1% (64) arterial hypertension, 34.8% (38) cardiovascular disease, 32.1% (36) diabetes mellitus and 21.4% (24) COPD. The most frequent cancer diagnosis were 18.8% (21) breast cancer, 17.9% (20) lung cancer, 16.1% (18) colorectal cancer and 12.5% (14) prostate cancer. Tumour stage 55.4% (62) metastatic disease, 25% (28) localised disease and 19.6% (22) locally advanced disease. 60.7% (68) of patients received active cancer treatment (42.7% chemotherapy, 32.3% hormonal treatment, 16.2% targeted therapy, 7% immunotherapy and 2.9% radiotherapy). At admission, 85.7% (96) of patients had pneumonia (78.1% bilateral), 59.9% (67) had lymphopenia (lymphocytes <1000/mL) and 31.3% (35) had p02 <90%. The variables for monitoring the clinical course are shown in table 1. Conclusion and relevance Mortality rate and mortality rate <30 days from admission were high. The clinical course in patients with active anticancer treatment was similar to that of all cancer patients. Larger series of patients are needed to continue studying outcomes of SARS-CoV2 infection in cancer patients. (Table Presented).