Dados do Trabalho

Título

CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CANCER PATIENTS WITH COVID-19: A RETROSPECTIVE CASE STUDY IN A PUBLIC ONCOLOGIC HOSPITAL IN BRAZIL.

Introdução

Cancer patients are regarded as a highly vulnerable group in the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To date, the clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients remain largely unknown.

Objetivo

To know the characteristics of cancer patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in a hospital in southern Brazil and correlate them with the severity of the disease. Also, to assess overall survival in general and subgroups according presence comorbidities, type of neoplasm, clinical stage, anticancer treatment in the last 60 days and cancer disease status.

Método

This is a retrospective, descriptive, quantitative and observational exploratory study using secondary data. Cancer patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from a public oncologic hospital in Southern Brazil were included. Clinical data were collected from medical records from March 2020 to March 2021.

Resultado

A total of 199 COVID-19-infected cancer patients were included, 54,8% patients were female. The mean age was 56.38 (standard deviation of 16.23). 70.35% had solid tumors, the most frequent being breast (27.85%) and gastrointestinal (18.57%). Among hematological tumors, lymphoma (32.84%) and leukemia (42.62%) were more frequent. Active disease was present in 69.2% of the patients and 68.34% had undergone cancer treatment in the last 60 days. Hospital admission rate was 47.2%, and of these 28.7% required admission to intensive care. Of these, 81.5% required mechanical ventilation. Overall mortality rate was 18.1%, with a median survival of 23 days (95% CI 12.77-33.22). There was a statistical significative association between higher mortality and active disease (p<0.01), curative intention treatment (p<0.01), more advanced staging (p=0.045) and presence of comorbidities (p=0.024). Cancer treatment in the last 60 days was not statistically associated with higher mortality (p=0.078).

Conclusão

The epidemiological profile of cancer patients with COVID-19 indicated a predominance of female patients with a mean age of 56,38 years. Solid Tumors were the most common and breast cancer was the most frequent (27.85%). Among hematological tumors, lymphoma (32.84%) and leukemia (42.62%) were more frequent. Patients with active oncologic disease, curative intention treatment, more advanced staging and comorbidities had a higher mortality rate. The mortality rate in this study was 18.1% while the overall mortality rate for Covid 19 pandemic was 2.13%.

Palavras-chave

COVID-19; Coronavirus infections; Cancer;

Área

Oncologia - Pesquisa Clínica em Oncologia