SARS‐CoV‐2 Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Cancer in a Large Integrated Health Care System in Northern California

• Published in: The oncologist (Dayton, Ohio) Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. e500 - e504
• Main Authors: Anantharaman, Archana, Dusendang, Jennifer R., Schmittdiel, Julie A., Harzstark, Andrea L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-03-2021; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Brief Communications; California; California - epidemiology; Cancer; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; COVID-19 - complications; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Epidemics; Female; Health maintenance organizations; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Immunotherapy; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasms - complications; Neoplasms - immunology; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Pandemics; Patient outcomes; Pneumonia, Viral - complications; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; California
• ISSN: 1083-7159; 1549-490X
• DOI: 10.1002/onco.13602

The SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) pandemic continues to affect many lives globally. Patients with cancer undergoing potentially immunosuppressive therapies appear to be at particular risk for the disease and its complications. Here, we describe the experience of patients with cancer within Kaiser Permanente, a large, integrated health system in Northern California. Between February 25, 2020, and June 8, 2020, 4,627 patients were diagnosed with COVID‐19, of whom 33 had active cancer treatment within 180 days and 214 had a history of cancer. Patients with active cancer treatment had a statistically higher risk of requiring noninvasive ventilation (odds ratio [OR], 2.57; confidence interval [CI], 1.10–6.01), and there was a nonsignificant trend toward higher risk of death (OR, 2.78; CI, 0.92–8.43). Those with a history of cancer had comparable outcomes to those without cancer. These data demonstrate an increased risk of complications from COVID‐19 for patients with active cancer treatment.
Patients with cancer appear to be at particular risk for COVID‐19 and its complications. This article reports data describing the effects of SARS‐CoV‐2 on patients with an active malignancy compared with survivors or those without a cancer diagnosis within a large health care system in northern California, one of the first areas to have documented community transmission within the United States.