Thoracic malignancies or thoracic cancers include lung cancers, thymic malignancies, lung carcinoid tumors, and tracheal tumors. Patients with thoracic malignancies are thought to be at a high risk of COVID-19. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on patients with thoracic malignancies.
This international, registry-based cohort study included a total of 200 patients with COVID-19 and any type of thoracic cancer from 8 countries. Information on demographics, oncological history and comorbidities, COVID-19 diagnosis, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. The primary outcomes of the study were associations between demographic or clinical characteristics and outcomes.
The majority of patients with COVID-19 and thoracic malignancies had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1 (72%), were current or former smokers (81%) had non-small-cell lung cancer (76%), and were undergoing therapy (74%) at COVID-19 diagnosis. Of 134 patients who met the ICU admission criteria, 13 (10%) were admitted to ICU, and the rest 121 were hospitalized. Further analysis indicated that being older than 65 years (OR 1.88), being a current or former smoker (4l24), presence of comorbidities (2.65), and receiving chemotherapy alone (2.54) was associated with a higher risk of death.
The research concluded that patients with thoracic malignancies and COVID-19 were at a higher risk of death, with risk factors being older age, smoking, and the presence of comorbidities.
Ref: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(20)30314-4/fulltext
