|
?:abstract
|
-
Introduction: Lung cancer is associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections Symptom overlap between COVID-19 and lung cancer may complicate diagnostic evaluation We aimed to investigate the incidence, symptoms, differential diagnosis, and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer Methods: To determine an at-risk population for COVID-19, we retrospectively identified patients with lung cancer receiving longitudinal care within a single institution in the 12 months (April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020) immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, including an \'active therapy population\' treated within the last 60 days of this period Among patients subsequently referred for COVID-19 testing, we compared symptoms, laboratory values, radiographic findings, and outcomes of positive versus negative patients Results: Between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020, a total of 696 patients received longitudinal care, including 406 (58%) in the active therapy population Among 55 patients referred for COVID-19 testing, 24 (44%) were positive for COVID-19, representing a cumulative incidence of 3 4% (longitudinal population) and 1 5% (active therapy population) Compared with patients who were COVID-19 negative, those who were COVID-19 positive were more likely to have a supplemental oxygen requirement (11% versus 54%, p = 0 005) and to have typical COVID-19 pneumonia imaging findings (5 versus 56%, p = 0 001) Otherwise, there were no marked differences in presenting symptoms Among patients who were COVID-19 negative, alternative etiologies included treatment-related toxicity (26%), atypical pneumonia (22%), and disease progression (22%) A total of 16 patients positive for COVID-19 (67%) required hospitalization, and seven (29%) died from COVID-related complications Conclusions: COVID-19 was infrequent in this lung cancer population, but these patients experienced high rates of morbidity and mortality Oncologists should maintain a low threshold for COVID-19 testing in patients with lung cancer presenting with acute symptoms
|
![[This page as RDF]](https://research.tib.eu/covid-19/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}