COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer

J. Luo, H. Rizvi, I. Preeshagul, J. Egger, D. Hoyos, C. Bandlamudi, C. Mccarthy, C. Falcon, A. Schoenfeld, K. Arbour, J. Chaft, R. Daly, A. Drilon, J. Eng, A. Iqbal, W.V. Lai, B.T. Li, P. Lito, A. Namakydoust, K. Ng, M. Offin, P. Paik, G. Riely, C. Rudin, H.A. Yu, M. Zauderer, M. Donoghue, M. Łuksza, B. Greenbaum, M. Kris, M. Hellmann

Annals of Oncology, 2020

Structured Abstract Background Patients with lung cancers may have disproportionately severe COVID-19 outcomes. Understanding the patient-specific and cancer-specific features that impact severity of COVID-19 may inform optimal cancer care during this pandemic. Patients and methods We examined consecutive patients with lung cancer and confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 (n=102) at a single center from March 12-May 6, 2020. Thresholds of severity were defined a priori as hospitalization, ICU/intubation/DNI (a composite metric of severe disease including ICU stay, intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation, and/or transition to do not intubate [DNI]), or death. Recovery was defined as >14 days from COVID-19 test and >3 days since symptom resolution. HLA alleles were inferred from MSK-IMPACT (n=46) and compared to controls with lung cancer and no known non-COVID-19 (n=5166). Results COVID-19 was severe in patients with lung cancer (62% hospitalized, 25% died). Although severe, COVID-19 accounted for a minority of overall lung cancer-deaths during the pandemic (11% overall). Determinants of COVID-19 severity were largely patient-specific features, including smoking status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Odds ratios for severe COVID-19 2.9, 95% CI 1.07-9.44 comparing the median [23.5 pack-years] to never and 3.87, 95% CI 1.35-9.68, respectively). Cancer-specific features, including prior thoracic surgery/radiation and recent systemic therapies did not impact severity. HLA supertypes were generally similar in mild or severe cases of COVID-19 compared to non-COVID-19 controls. Most patients recovered from COVID-19, including 25% patients initially requiring intubation. Among hospitalized patients, hydroxychloroquine did not improve COVID-19 outcomes. Conclusion COVID-19 is associated with high burden of severity in patients with lung cancer. Patient-specific features, rather than cancer-specific features or treatments, are the greatest determinants of severity.

Cited by 58 publications.

Field of study: Medicine

10.1016/j.annonc.2020.06.007