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. 2022 Apr 27;14(9):2191.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14092191.

Outcome and Prognostic Factors of COVID-19 Infection in Swiss Cancer Patients: Final Results of SAKK 80/20 (CaSA)

Markus Joerger  1 , Yannis Metaxas  2 , Khalil Zaman  3 , Olivier Michielin  4 , Nicolas Mach  5 , Adrienne Bettini  6 , Andreas M Schmitt  7 , Nathan Cantoni  8 , Clemens B Caspar  9 , Sonja Stettler  10 , Roma Malval  11 , Miklos Pless  12 , Christian Britschgi  13 , Christoph Renner  14 , Dieter Koeberle  15 , Jessica D Schulz  16 , Christoph Kopp  16 , Stefanie Hayoz  16 , Anastasios Stathis  17 , Roger von Moos  18 ; Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research (SAKK)
Affiliations

Outcome and Prognostic Factors of COVID-19 Infection in Swiss Cancer Patients: Final Results of SAKK 80/20 (CaSA)

Markus Joerger et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Purpose: These are the final results of a national registry on cancer patients with COVID-19 in Switzerland. Methods: We collected data on symptomatic COVID-19-infected cancer patients from 23 Swiss sites over a one-year period starting on 1 March 2020. The main objective was to assess the outcome (i.e., mortality, rate of hospitalization, ICU admission) of COVID-19 infection in cancer patients; the main secondary objective was to define prognostic factors. Results: From 455 patients included, 205 patients (45%) had non-curative disease, 241 patients (53%) were hospitalized for COVID-19, 213 (47%) required oxygen, 43 (9%) invasive ventilation and 62 (14%) were admitted to the ICU. Death from COVID-19 infection occurred in 98 patients, resulting in a mortality rate of 21.5%. Age ≥65 years versus <65 years (OR 3.14, p = 0.003), non-curative versus curative disease (OR 2.42, p = 0.012), ICU admission (OR 4.45, p < 0.001) and oxygen requirement (OR 20.28, p < 0.001) were independently associated with increased mortality. Conclusions: We confirmed high COVID-19 severity and mortality in real-world cancer patients during the first and second wave of the pandemic in a country with a decentralized, high-quality, universal-access health care system. COVID-19-associated mortality was particularly high for those of older age in a non-curative disease setting, requiring oxygen or ICU care.

Keywords: COVID-19; cancer; cancer treatment; coronavirus; pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

M.J. has received institutional research grants from AstraZeneca, Basilea Pharmaceutica, Bayer, BMS, Immunophotonics, Innomedica, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Takeda and travel grants from BMS, Roche, MSD. K.Z. has received institutional consultant fees from Lilly, Novartis, Roche, MSD, Mylan, Daiichi-Sankyo, Pierre Fabre, institutional research grants from Roche and travel grants from Roche, Pierre Fabre, MSD. N.C. has received research grants from Novartis, consulting fees from BMS and Novartis, honoraria from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, BMS, Gilead, Novartis, OrPha Swiss, Pfizer, Sandoz, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda/Shire, travel grants from AbbVie, Amgen, Celgene, Roche and advisory board remuneration from AbbVie, Alexion, Amgen, BMS, Gilead, Incyte, Janssen, Novartis, OrPha Swiss, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi-Aventis, Takeda/Shire. C.B. has received advisory board remuneration from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Roche, Takeda, Janssen, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Roche and travel grants from AstraZeneca and Takeda. A.S. has received institutional research grants from Roche, Pfizer, Merck, Bayer, Novartis, MEI-Pharma, ADC Therapeutics, Cellestia.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Alluvial plot of hospitalization and clinical courses for all 455 cancer patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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