The Landscape of COVID-19 in Cancer Patients: Prevalence, Impacts, and Recommendations

Cancer patients are susceptible groups to COVID-19, and risk-adjusted models show that most cancer patients have a 25-39% mortality risk if infected with COVID-19. The infection rate of SARS-CoV-2 in cancer patients in China was 0.79% (12 of 1524 patients; 95% CI, 0.31.2%). The case fatality rate of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancer management and research 2020-01, Vol.12, p.8923-8933
Main Authors: Abdihamid, Omar, Cai, Changjing, Kapesa, Linda, Zeng, Shan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
cancer care
Cancer patients
Cancer research
Cancer therapies
Care and treatment
China
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Epidemics
Fatalities
Health aspects
high-risk
Middle East respiratory syndrome
Mortality
Palliative care
Review
sars-cov-2
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cancer patients are susceptible groups to COVID-19, and risk-adjusted models show that most cancer patients have a 25-39% mortality risk if infected with COVID-19. The infection rate of SARS-CoV-2 in cancer patients in China was 0.79% (12 of 1524 patients; 95% CI, 0.31.2%). The case fatality rate of COVID-19 in the overall population ranges from 2.3 to 8.0%; among these, the case fatality rate for cancer patients is at 5.6%. In a retrospective cohort study of 28 COVID-19-infected cancer patients, a total of 15 (53.6%) patients had severe outcomes with a mortality rate of 28.6%. In a pooled analysis by Aakash et al, a 2% cancer prevalence was found among admitted patients with COVID-19. In Italy, a report shows that among the 3200 patients who died of SARS-CoV-2, 19.4% were patients with cancer. In New York, 61 (28%) cancer patients succumbed to COVID-19 with a case fatality rate of 37% (20/54) and 25% (41/164) for hematologic and solid malignancies, respectively. Impacts of COVID-19 in cancer care include interruptions of life-saving therapies, distraction effects, and diagnostic overshadowing that involve diverting attention to the pandemic rather than to cancer patients and disruptions of primary palliative care to patients due to forced quarantine. Herein, we review the landscape of COVID-19 in cancer care. We also briefly share our experience and the measures in place to protect cancer patients against COVID-19 in our center.
ISSN:1179-1322
1179-1322
DOI:10.2147/CMAR.S272008