With prior research indicating that patients with cancer are generally more vulnerable to infections, study investigators felt systematic analysis of diverse cohorts of patients with cancer affected by COVID-19 were needed. The team performed a multi-center study of patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection, 105 of whom had cancer and 536 of whom were age-matched patients without cancer (controls). Patients with cancer had significantly higher risks of mortality (odds ratio [OR], 2.34), ICU admission (OR, 2.84), severe or critical symptoms (OR, 2.79), and invasive mechanical ventilation (OR, 2.71) when compared with controls. While overall mortality rates were 11.4% for those with cancer and about 5% for those without, patients with hematologic malignancies, lung tumors, and esophageal tumors had mortality rates of 33.3%, 18.1%, and 16.7%, respectively. Patients with early-stage cancers had outcomes similar to those without cancer, but those with metastatic disease had ORs of 5.58 for death, 6.59 for ICU admission, 5.97 for severe symptoms, and 55.42 for invasive ventilation.

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