Journal Article

Association of cancer and outcomes of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023 version 2; peer review: 1 not approved

Jalloh, Abdulai Tejan, Kabba, Mustapha, Tengbe, Sia Morenike, Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn, Terry, Robert F, Tejan, Yusuf Sheku, Merson, Laura, Nuwagira, Innocent, Lakoh, Sulaiman, Grant, Donald S, Samuels, Robert J, Hassan, Shermarke, Nair, Divya, Kamara, Rugiatu Z

2024

Overview

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused substantial morbidity and mortality on a global scale. A strong correlation has been found between COVID-19 treatment outcomes and noncommunicable diseases such as cancers. However, there is limited information on the outcomes of cancer patients who were hospitalised for COVID-19. Methods We conducted an analysis on data collected in a large prospective cohort study set-up by the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC). All patients with laboratory-confirmed or clinically-diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. Cancer was defined as having a current solid organ or haematological malignancy. The following outcomes were assessed; 30-day in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, length of hospitalization and receipt of higher-level care. Results Of the 560,547 hospitalised individuals who were analysed, 27,243 (4.9%) had cancer. Overall, cancer patients were older and had more comorbidities than non-cancer patients. Patients with cancer had higher 30-day in-hospital mortality than non-cancer patients (29.1.3% vs 18.0%) and longer hospital stays (median of 12 days vs 8 days). However, patients with cancer were admitted less often to intensive care units than non-cancer patients (12.6% vs 17.1%) and received less invasive mechanical ventilation than non-cancer patients (4.5% vs 7.6%). The hazard ratio of dying from cancer, adjusted for age, sex and country income level was 1.18 (95%CI: 1.15-1.2). Conclusions This study's findings underscore the heightened vulnerability of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with cancer, revealing a higher mortality rate, longer hospital stays, and an unstructured pattern of care that reflects the complexity of managing severely ill patients during a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Publisher: Faculty of 1000 Ltd,F1000 Research Limited,F1000 Research Ltd
• Subject: Cancer / Case reports / comorbidities / Comorbidity / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / Data collection / Datasets / Demographics / Developing countries / eng / hazard ratio / Hospitalization / Hospitals / Infectious diseases / Intensive care units / LDCs / Length of stay / Malignancy / Mechanical ventilation / Medical prognosis / Morbidity / Mortality / Open access / Pandemics / Patients / Public health / Research ethics / risk factor / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / Skin cancer / Software / Statistical analysis / Survival analysis / Tumors / Variables / Ventilators