Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan 27;72(2):351-356.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1079.

Are All Patients with Cancer at Heightened Risk for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)?

Georgios Chamilos  1   2 , Michail S Lionakis  3 , Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis  4
Affiliations

Are All Patients with Cancer at Heightened Risk for Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)?

Georgios Chamilos et al. Clin Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Cancer patients are traditionally considered at high risk for complicated respiratory viral infections, due to their underlying immunosuppression. In line with this notion, early case series reported high mortality rates of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with malignancy. However, subsequent large, prospective, epidemiological surveys indicate that the risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be largely attributed to the multiple confounders operating in this highly heterogeneous population of patients, rather than the cancer or its treatment per se. We critically discuss the conundrums of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients and underscore mechanistic insights on the outcome of COVID-19 as it relates to cancer therapy and the type and status of the underlying malignancy. Not all cancer patients are similarly at risk for a complicated COVID-19 course. A roadmap is needed for translational and clinical research on COVID-19 in this challenging group of patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cancer; immunosuppresion; malignancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Liang W, Guan W, Chen R, et al. Cancer patients in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. Lancet Oncol 2020; 21:335–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chemaly RF, Shah DP, Boeckh MJ. Management of respiratory viral infections in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients and patients with hematologic malignancies. Clin Infect Dis 2014; 59(Suppl 5):S344–S351. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fung M, Babik JM. COVID-19 in immunocompromised hosts: what we know so far. Clin Infect Dis 2020; ciaa863. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa863 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yang K, Sheng Y, Huang C, et al. Clinical characteristics, outcomes, and risk factors for mortality in patients with cancer and COVID-19 in Hubei, China: a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study. Lancet Oncol 2020; 21:904–13. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tian J, Yuan X, Xiao J, et al. Clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with COVID-19 disease severity in patients with cancer in Wuhan, China: a multicentre, retrospective, cohort study. Lancet Oncol 2020; 21:893–903. - PMC - PubMed