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. 2022 May:167:81-91.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2022.03.005. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

Clinical profile and mortality of Sars-Cov-2 infection in cancer patients across two pandemic time periods (Feb 2020-Sep 2020; Sep 2020-May 2021) in the Veneto Oncology Network: The ROVID study

Maria V Dieci  1 , Giuseppe Azzarello  2 , Vittorina Zagonel  3 , Franco Bassan  4 , Stefania Gori  5 , Giuseppe Aprile  6 , Vanna Chiarion-Sileni  7 , Sara Lonardi  3 , Cristina Oliani  8 , Marta Zaninelli  9 , Rita Chiari  10 , Adolfo Favaretto  11 , Alberto Pavan  12 , Elisabetta Di Liso  13 , Eleonora Mioranza  13 , Alessandra Baldoni  2 , Francesca Bergamo  3 , Marco Maruzzo  3 , Stamatia Ziampiri  4 , Alessandro Inno  5 , Filomena Graziani  6 , Giusy Sinigaglia  8 , Michele Celestino  13 , Pierfranco Conte  14 , Valentina Guarneri  14 ; Veneto Oncology Network
Affiliations

Clinical profile and mortality of Sars-Cov-2 infection in cancer patients across two pandemic time periods (Feb 2020-Sep 2020; Sep 2020-May 2021) in the Veneto Oncology Network: The ROVID study

Maria V Dieci et al. Eur J Cancer. 2022 May.

Abstract

Introduction: We analyzed a cohort of patients with cancer and Sars-Cov-2 infection from the Veneto Oncology Network registry across two pandemic time periods.

Materials and methods: 761 patients with cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infection were included.

Results: 198 patients were diagnosed during the first pandemic time period (TP1; February 2020 September 2020), 494 during TP2 before the vaccination campaign (TP2/pre-vaccination; September 2020-21 February 2021) and 69 in TP2/post-vaccination (22 February 2021-15 May 2021). TP2 vs TP1 patients were younger (p = 0.004), showed more frequently a good performance status (p < 0.001) and <2 comorbidities (p = 0.002), were more likely to be on active anticancer therapy (p = 0.006). Significantly fewer patients in TP2 (3-4%) vs TP1 (22%) had an in-hospital potential source of infection (p < 0.001). TP2 patients were more frequently asymptomatic (p = 0.003). Significantly fewer patients from TP2 were hospitalized (p < 0.001) or admitted to intensive care unit (p = 0.006). All-cause mortality decreased from 30.3% in TP1, to 8.9% and 8.7% in the two TP2 periods (p < 0.001), reflected by a significant reduction in Sars-Cov-2-related mortality (15.2%, 7.5% and 5.8% in the three consecutive time periods, p = 0.004).

Conclusions: Differences in clinical characteristics and features of Sars-Cov-2 infection between TP1 and TP2 reflect the effects of protective measures and increased testing capacity. The lower mortality in TP2 is in line with a less frail population. However, the vast majority of death events in TP2 were related to COVID-19, reinforcing the priority to protect cancer patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer; Sars-Cov-2.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Number of new weekly cases of cancer patients diagnosed with Sars-Cov-2 infection across centres participating to the ROVID study from February 2020 to May 2021. Relevant time periods considered in the present study are shown.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Characteristics of Sars-Cov-2 infection across pandemic time periods: type of contact (A), symptoms (B–F), hospitalization and ICU admission (G), and COVID-19 therapies. ICU: intensive care unit.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mortality rates across the three pandemic time periods.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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