Clinical Outcome of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Haemato-oncology Patients

ABSTRACT

Since being identified in China in December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has rapidly evolved into a global pandemic with over 4 million cases and more than 270,000 deaths.(1) Following the first reported cases in the United Kingdom (UK) in late January 2020, numbers have continued to rise with 223,060 cases and 32,065 deaths reported as of 11(th) May 2020.(2) Initial reports from China have indicated that Covid-19 has an overall mortality rate of 1.4%. However, the prognosis varies widely between groups, with age over 60 years and underlying conditions including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer identified as risk factors for severe disease and death.(3) The initial reports from China show that patients with cancer are over-represented among individuals who develop severe Covid-19 after contracting the virus.(4) Patients with haematological malignancies are expected to be at increased risk of adverse outcomes from this viral infection, due being immunosuppressed as a consequence of the underlying cancer, and from the effects of therapy.