COVID-19 in cancer patients: A retrospective study of 212 cases from a French SARS-CoV-2 cluster during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fiche publication

Date publication

mai 2021

Journal

The oncologist

Auteurs

Membres identifiés du Cancéropôle Est :
Dr BARTHELEMY Philippe , Pr KURTZ Jean-Emmanuel , Dr LIMACHER Jean-Marc , Dr GANTZER Justine , Dr PAMART Guillaume

Tous les auteurs :
Martin S, Kaeuffer C, Leyendecker P, Tuzin N, Tazi Y, Schaff-Wendling F, Kleinheny T, Husson-Wetzel S, Pamart G, Limacher JM, Clerc O, Dicop E, Kurtz JE, Barthélémy P, Gantzer J

Lien Pubmed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34028132

Résumé

We describe a large series of solid tumor patients in an early Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cluster of the eastern part of France. From February to May 2020, this multicenter retrospective study enrolled 212 cancer patients under treatment or on follow-up for any type of malignant solid tumor and positive for severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2. The mortality rate was 30%. Patients with gastrointestinal cancers were identified like a subset of more vulnerable cancer patients and immunotherapy or radiotherapy within 3 months from COVID-19 diagnosis were risk factors for death. The reported data support the essential need to be proactive and weigh the risks of morbidity from COVID-19 against the magnitude of benefits of intended cancer therapies during this pandemic. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This article supports the essential need to be proactive (treatment delay or modification) in oncology in the setting of pandemic. Indeed, we identified gastrointestinal cancers like a subset of more vulnerable cancer patients and found that immunotherapy and radiotherapy within 3 months from COVID-19 diagnosis as risk factors for death. The reported data indicate the necessity to weigh the risks of morbidity from COVID-19 against the magnitude of benefits of intended cancer therapies so that the situation would be different if there were another wave of COVID-19.