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. 2021 May 7:11:662746.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.662746. eCollection 2021.

More Severe COVID-19 in Patients With Active Cancer: Results of a Multicenter Cohort Study

Caterina Monari  1 , Caterina Sagnelli  1 , Paolo Maggi  2 , Vincenzo Sangiovanni  3 , Fabio Giuliano Numis  4 , Ivan Gentile  5 , Alfonso Masullo  6 , Carolina Rescigno  7 , Giosuele Calabria  8 , Angelo Salomone Megna  9 , Michele Gambardella  10 , Elio Manzillo  11 , Grazia Russo  12 , Vincenzo Esposito  13 , Clarissa Camaioni  1 , Vincenzo Messina  2 , Mariantonietta Pisaturo  3 , Enrico Allegorico  4 , Biagio Pinchera  5 , Raffaella Pisapia  7 , Mario Catalano  8 , Angela Salzillo  2 , Giovanni Porta  4 , Giuseppe Signoriello  14 , Nicola Coppola  1
Affiliations

More Severe COVID-19 in Patients With Active Cancer: Results of a Multicenter Cohort Study

Caterina Monari et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to compare coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity presentation between oncologic and non-oncologic patients and to evaluate the impact of cancer type and stage on COVID-19 course.

Methods: We performed a multicentre, retrospective study involving 13 COVID-19 Units in Campania region from February to May 2020. We defined as severe COVID-19 presentation the cases that required mechanical ventilation and/or admission to Intensive Care Units (ICU) and/or in case of death.

Results: We enrolled 371 COVID-19 patients, of whom 34 (9.2%) had a history or a diagnosis of cancer (24 solid, 6 onco-hematological). Oncologic patients were older (p<0.001), had more comorbidities (p<0.001) and showed a higher rate of severe COVID-19 presentation (p=0.001) and of death (p<0.001). Compared to 12 patients with non-active cancer and to 337 without cancer, the 17 patients with active cancer had more comorbidities and showed a higher rate of severe COVID-19 and of mortality (all p values <0.001). Compared to the 281 non-severe patients, the 90 subjects with a severe presentation of COVID-19 were older (p<0.01), with more comorbidities (p<0.001) and with a higher rate of cancer (p=0.001). At multivariate analysis, age (OR 1.08, 95% CI: 1.04-1.11) and suffering from cancer in an active stage (OR 5.33, 95% CI: 1.77-16.53) were independently associated with severe COVID-19.

Conclusions: Since the higher risk of severe evolution of COVID-19, cancer patients, especially those with an active malignancy, should be candidates for early evaluation of symptoms and early treatment for COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; active cancer; oncologic patients; severity disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study population flow-chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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