Abstract 41P
Background
SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome–related CoronaVirus-2) pandemic is the most serious challenge facing public health worldwide. The pandemic imposes different challenges to patients with cancer. To clarify the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in a large cohort of new cancer cases referred to an oncology center in the north of Iran.
Methods
This prospective, observational cohort study was conducted in Babol Oncology center, Mazandaran, Iran, between Feb 1, 2020, and Sep 30, 2021 (before commencing a valid vaccination program in Iran). Patients with newly diagnosed cancer who consented to enter the study were included. Cancer patients diagnosed more than six months before recruitment or who had received anticancer treatments—such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy—were excluded from the study. Patients were followed up for COVID-19 infection and its outcomes.
Results
During the study period, 1295 patients with new cancer a mean age of 58.7 years were enrolled. After median follow-up of 12 months (range, 6-24 months), 122 patients (9.4%) were diagnosed with COVID-19, among which 44 cases (3.4%) required hospitalization, and 10 cases (0.7%) were admitted to ICU and received mechanical ventilation. During the study, COVID-19 mortality was reported in 9 cases (0.6%) with a case fatality rate of 20.4%.
Conclusions
This study could pave the new way to understand the role of clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 infection in new cancer cases, which may lead to the development of preventative, diagnostic, and curative procedures in cancer patients. This cohort study showed that cancer type (most in hematological malignancies) and treatment setting (palliative care) were significantly associated with COVID-19 infection. Moreover, cancer type (most in brain cancers), metastasis, and treatment setting (palliative care) were in direct relationship to death. Further investigations are needed to help us to get novel insights into the exact role of clinical characteristics in susceptibility to COVID infection in new cancer patients.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The author.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
The author has declared no conflicts of interest.