TY - JOUR
T1 - Cancer is associated with severe disease in COVID-19 patients
T2 - a systematic review and meta-analysis
AU - Ofori-Asenso, Richard
AU - Ogundipe, Oyepeju
AU - Agyeman, Akosua Adom
AU - Chin, Ken Lee
AU - Mazidi, Mohsen
AU - Ademi, Zanfina
AU - de Bruin, Marie Louise
AU - Liew, Danny
PY - 2020/5/18
Y1 - 2020/5/18
N2 - Cancer patients are vulnerable to complications of respiratory viruses. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the prevalence of cancer and its association with disease severity in patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE and ScienceDirect from their inception until 28 April 2020. Severe disease was considered to encompass cases resulting in death or as defined by the primary study authors. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effect models. We included 20 studies involving 32,404 patients from China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, France, India and South Korea. The pooled prevalence of cancer was 3.50% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.70 to 5.80). The pooled prevalence was not moderated by study mean age, proportion of females or whether the study was conducted in/outside of China. Patients with cancer were more likely to experience severe COVID-19 disease compared to patients without cancer (pooled risk ratio 1.76, 95% CI 1.39 to 2.23). Our findings reiterate the need for additional precautionary measures to ensure that patients with cancer are not exposed to COVID-19, and if they become infected, extra attention should be provided to minimise their risk of adverse outcomes.
AB - Cancer patients are vulnerable to complications of respiratory viruses. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the prevalence of cancer and its association with disease severity in patients with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Searches were performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE and ScienceDirect from their inception until 28 April 2020. Severe disease was considered to encompass cases resulting in death or as defined by the primary study authors. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effect models. We included 20 studies involving 32,404 patients from China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, France, India and South Korea. The pooled prevalence of cancer was 3.50% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.70 to 5.80). The pooled prevalence was not moderated by study mean age, proportion of females or whether the study was conducted in/outside of China. Patients with cancer were more likely to experience severe COVID-19 disease compared to patients without cancer (pooled risk ratio 1.76, 95% CI 1.39 to 2.23). Our findings reiterate the need for additional precautionary measures to ensure that patients with cancer are not exposed to COVID-19, and if they become infected, extra attention should be provided to minimise their risk of adverse outcomes.
KW - Coronavirus
KW - COVID-19
KW - Pandemic
KW - SARS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087756970&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3332/ecancer.2020.1047
DO - 10.3332/ecancer.2020.1047
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087756970
SN - 1754-6605
VL - 14
JO - ecancermedicalscience
JF - ecancermedicalscience
M1 - 1047
ER -
