Cancer and risk of COVID-19 through a general community survey [article]

Karla A Lee, Weinjie Ma, Daniel R Sikavi, Jonathon Wolf, Claire J Steves, Tim D Spector, Andrew T Chan
2020 biorxiv/medrxiv   pre-print
Data are limited on the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among individuals with cancer and whether cancer-related therapy exacerbates this risk. Methods: We evaluated the risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among patients living with cancer compared to the general community and whether cancer-related treatments influence this risk. Data were collected from the COVID Symptom Study smartphone application since March 24, 2020 (United Kingdom), March 29 (U.S.), and April 29,
more » ... (Sweden) through May 8, 2020. We used multivariate-adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of a positive COVID-19 test as well as predicted COVID-19 infection using a validated symptom model. Results: Among 23,266 participants with cancer and 1,784,293 without cancer, we documented 10,404 reports of a positive COVID-19 test. Compared to participants without cancer, those living with cancer had 62% increased risk of a positive COVID-19 test (95% CI: 1.37-1.91). Among patients with cancer, current treatment with chemotherapy/immunotherapy was associated with a nearly 2.5-fold increased risk of a positive test (aOR: 2.42; 95% CI: 1.81-3.25). The association between cancer and COVID-19+ was stronger among participants >65 years (aOR: 1.93; 95%CI: 1.51-2.46) compared to younger participants (aOR: 1.32; 95%CI: 1.06-1.64; Pinteraction<0.001); and among males (aOR: 1.71; 95%CI: 1.36-2.15) compared to females (aOR: 1.43; 95%CI: 1.14-1.79; Pinteraction=0.02). Conclusions: Individuals with cancer had a significantly increased risk of infection compared to the general community. Those treated with chemotherapy or immunotherapy were particularly at-risk of infection. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04331509
doi:10.1101/2020.05.20.20103762 fatcat:rflbbhzoijfclfg2hu4kqbekza