LIVER ENZYMES ALTERATION BUT NOT GI SYMPTOMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DEATH IN MINORITY COVID-19 PATIENTS WITH CANCER

ABSTRACT

Background and Aims: Cancers are known to worsen the clinical course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to assess health outcome effectors in Coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) cancer patients from different centers in the US. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of 364 COVID-19 cancer patients from 3 centers in the US (New York, Michigan, and DC) admitted to the hospital between Dec. 2019 to Oct. 2021. Outcomes, symptoms, labs, and comorbidities of cancer patients with COVID 19 (Cases), were analyzed and compared with non-cancer COVID-19 patients (Controls). Results: Among 1934 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, 18.7% (n=364) have an active or previous history of cancer. Cancer patients were older when compared with non-cancer controls (69.7 vs 61.3 years). Among these 364 cancer patients, 222 were African Americans (61.7%) and 121 were Caucasians (33.2%). Cancer patients had an increased length of hospitalization compared to controls (8.24 vs. 6.7 days). The most common types of cancer in cases are prostate cancer (41.5%) and hematological malignancies (10.1%) among males, and breast cancer (41.5%), and head and neck cancers (11.4%) in females. In both genders, lung cancer is associated with high mortality. Patients with a previous history of cancer were more prone to death (p=0.04) than active cancer patients. Cough (23.1%) and fever (19.5%) are the most common symptoms among the cases. In univariate and multivariate analyses, predictors of death among cancer patients were male sex, older age, African American ethnicity/race, asthma, presence or absence of fever, elevated troponin, mechanical ventilation, and previous history of cancer. There is no significant difference in mortality in cancer patients when compared to controls. Abdominal pain (2.2%), diarrhea (3.8%), and vomiting (2%) occurred both in cases and controls but did not associate with death. Albumin is also significantly associated with mortality in cases (p=0.042). AST (54.6%), ALT (12.5%), and Bilirubin (16%) were elevated in the majority of cases. Both AST and ALT alterations have an effect on mortality. Univariate analysis shows that AST is strongly and significantly associated with mortality in cases (p=0.001) but not in controls. ALT is also associated with mortality in cases at the 10% level (p=0.057). Diarrhea is strongly associated with mortality in control (p <0.001) but not in cases. Conclusion: In this retrospective cohort study, we found male sex, and African American race is associated with high mortality. Elevated troponin levels and LFT’s during the hospital stay were significantly associated with poor outcomes. Patients with a previous history of cancer were more prone to death when compared to active cancer COVID-19 patients. Early recognition of cancer COVID-19 patients can help determine appropriate treatment and management plans for better prognosis and outcome.