The Importance of Recency of Cancer Diagnosis in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19-Glimpses from an EHR-based Study.

ABSTRACT

Multiple prior studies have shown an increased risk of severe disease and death from SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with cancer. Nolan and colleagues conducted a multi-institution, electronic health record (EHR)-based study of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 delineating the difference in outcomes when stratified by current versus former cancer diagnosis and found that only a current diagnosis appears to confer an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and death.We review these findings in the context of other studies examining outcomes for individuals with cancer diagnoses and COVID-19. We also address questions raised by this type of study about the significant challenges of EHR-based studies and discuss potential avenues for future research in this arena. See related article by Nolan et al., p. 12.