Case fatality rate of cancer patients with COVID-19 in a New York Hospital system

Vikas Mehta, Sanjay Goel, Rafi Kabarriti, Daniel Cole, Mendel Goldfinger, Ana Acuna-Villaorduna, Kith Pradhan, Raja Thota, Stan Reissman, Joseph A. Sparano, Benjamin A. Gartrell, Richard V. Smith, Nitin Ohri, Madhur Garg, Andrew D. Racine, Shalom Kalnicki, Roman Perez-Soler, Balazs Halmos, Amit Verma

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

617 Scopus citations

Abstract

Patients with cancer are presumed to be at increased risk from COVID-19 infection–related fatality due to underlying malignancy, treatment-related immu-nosuppression, or increased comorbidities. A total of 218 COVID-19–positive patients from March 18, 2020, to April 8, 2020, with a malignant diagnosis were identified. A total of 61 (28%) patients with cancer died from COVID-19 with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 37% (20/54) for hematologic malignancies and 25% (41/164) for solid malignancies. Six of 11 (55%) patients with lung cancer died from COVID-19 disease. Increased mortality was significantly associated with older age, multiple comor-bidities, need for ICU support, and elevated levels of D-dimer, lactate dehydrogenase, and lactate in multivariate analysis. Age-adjusted CFRs in patients with cancer compared with noncancer patients at our institution and New York City reported a significant increase in case fatality for patients with can-cer. These data suggest the need for proactive strategies to reduce likelihood of infection and improve early identification in this vulnerable patient population. SIGNIFICANCE: COVID-19 in patients with cancer is associated with a significantly increased risk of case fatality, suggesting the need for proactive strategies to reduce likelihood of infection and improve early identification in this vulnerable patient population.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)935-941
Number of pages7
JournalCancer Discovery
Volume10
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2020
Externally publishedYes

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