Cancer inpatients with COVID-19: A report from the Brazilian National Cancer Institute

• Published in: PloS one 2020-10, Vol.15 (10), p.e0241261
• Main Authors: de Melo, Andreia C, Thuler, Luiz C S, da Silva, Jesse L, de Albuquerque, Lucas Z, Pecego, Ana C, Rodrigues, Luciana de O R, da Conceição, Magda S, Garrido, Marianne M, Quintella Mendes, Gelcio L, Mendes Pereira, Ana Cristina P, Soares, Marcelo A, Viola, João P B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academies and Institutes - statistics & numerical data; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Antibiotics; Antineoplastic Agents - adverse effects; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Betacoronavirus; Brazil - epidemiology; Breast; C-reactive protein; Cancer; Cancer Care Facilities - statistics & numerical data; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Cause of Death; Chemotherapy; Child; Child, Preschool; Comorbidity; Complications; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cytotoxicity; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology; Disease control; Disease Susceptibility; Electronic health records; Electronic medical records; Female; Funding; Hematology; Hospital Mortality; Hospitalization; Humans; Hypertension - epidemiology; Immunocompromised Host; Infant; Infections; Inpatients - statistics & numerical data; Laboratories; Leukemia; Lymphoma; Male; Medical records; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metastases; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Mortality; Multivariate analysis; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - epidemiology; Pandemics; Patients; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Polymerase chain reaction; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Sepsis; Septic shock; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Signs and symptoms; Solid tumors; Task forces; Tumors; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241261

This study aimed to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of cancer inpatients with COVID-19 exploring clinical outcomes. A retrospective search in the electronic medical records of cancer inpatients admitted to the Brazilian National Cancer Institute from April 30, 2020 to May 26, 2020 granted identification of 181 patients with COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR. The mean age was 55.3 years (SD ± 21.1). Comorbidities were present in 110 (60.8%) cases. The most prevalent solid tumors were breast (40 [22.1%]), gastrointestinal (24 [13.3%]), and gynecological (22 [12.2%]). Among hematological malignancies, lymphoma (20 [11%]) and leukemia (10 [5.5%]) predominated. Metastatic disease accounted for 90 (49.7%) cases. In total, 63 (34.8%) had recently received cytotoxic chemotherapy. The most common complications were respiratory failure (70 [38.7%]), septic shock (40 [22.1%]) and acute kidney injury (33 [18.2%]). A total of 60 (33.1%) patients died due to COVID-19 complications. For solid tumors, the COVID-19-specific mortality rate was 37.7% (52 out of 138 patients) and for hematological malignancies, 23.5% (8 out of 34). According to the univariate analysis COVID-19-specific mortality was significantly associated with age over 75 years (P = .002), metastatic cancer (p