Clinical Characteristics and Risk Factors of COVID-19 in 60 Adult Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background: During the pandemic of COVID-19, cancer patients have been considered as one high-risk group in the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. This study aimed to describe the clinical symptoms and risk factors of COVID-19 in cancer patients.

Method: In a prospective cross-sectional study, during a year, all cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy in our clinic (Kermanshah, Iran) were followed up in terms of getting COVID-19. We analyzed the effect of tumor features and demographic information on clinical manifestations, survival status, therapeutic outcomes, and severity of the disease COVID-19 in 2 categories of cancer (hematologic and solid cancers).

Results: Most of the patients (68%) were in the solid tumor category, including breast cancer (24.4%), colon cancer (22%), and gastric cancer (9.8%). There was a statistically significant difference between 2 categories of cancer in the clinical manifestations: the stage of cancer and survival status (P < .05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of death in cancer patients with COVID-19 along with symptoms of diarrhea (odds ratio [OR] = 12.8, P = .004), the difficulty of breath (OR = 10.73, P = .034), drop of SO2 (OR = 1.334, P = .003), thrombocytopenia (OR = 1.022, P = .02), anemia (OR = 2.72, P = .011), requiring mechanical ventilation (OR = 9.24, P = .004), pleural infusion (OR = 10.28, P = .02), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR = 7.389, P = .009) increases independent of other variables. The COVID-19 mortality rate in our cancer patients was 23%.

Conclusions: Thrombocytopenia, anemia, and diarrhea are symptoms that, along with common symptoms such as lung involvement, difficulty breathing, and the need for a ventilator, increase the risk of death in cancer patients with COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Risk factor; hematologic neoplasms; malignant neoplasms; mortality.