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?:abstract
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BACKGROUND: Emerging data suggest variability in susceptibility and outcome to COVID-19 infection. Identifying risk-factors associated with infection and outcomes in cancer patients is necessary to develop healthcare recommendations. METHODS: We analyzed electronic health records of the US Veterans Affairs healthcare system and assessed the prevalence of COVID-19 infection in cancer patients. We evaluated the proportion of cancer patients tested for COVID-19 who were positive, as well as outcome attributable to COVID-19, and stratified by clinical characteristics including demographics, comorbidities, cancer treatment and cancer type. All statistical tests are two-sided. RESULTS: Of 22914 cancer patients tested for COVID-19, 1794 (7.8%) were positive. The prevalence of COVID-19 was similar across age. Higher prevalence was observed in African-American (AA) (15.0%) compared to White (5.5%; P<.001) and in patients with hematologic malignancy compared to those with solid tumors (10.9% vs 7.8%; P<.001). Conversely, prevalence was lower in current smokers and patients who recently received cancer therapy (<6 months). The COVID-19 attributable mortality was 10.9%. Higher attributable mortality rates were observed in older patients, those with higher Charlson comorbidity score, and in certain cancer types. Recent (<6 months) or past treatment did not influence attributable mortality. Importantly, AA patients had 3.5-fold higher COVID-19 attributable hospitalization, however had similar attributable mortality as White patients. CONCLUSION: Pre-existence of cancer affects both susceptibility to COVID-19 infection and eventual outcome. The overall COVID-19 attributable mortality in cancer patients is affected by age, comorbidity and specific cancer types, however, race or recent treatment including immunotherapy does not impact outcome.
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