Clinical characteristics of lung cancer patients with COVID-19: Retrospective case series

Abstract

Introduction: One of the patient groups adversely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic is those suffering with cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of lung cancer (LC) patients with COVID-19. Materials and Methods: Three thousand seven-hundred and fifty hospitalized patients with a presumptive diagnosis of COVID-19 in a tertiary referral hospital between March 2020–February 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. Among them, 36 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with a history of primary LC were included in the study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to assess the risk factors associated with severe disease. Results: Of the 36 patients included in the study, 28 (77%) were males and 8 (23%) were females. Median age was 67 years (min-max: 53-81 years). Six patients (17%) had a diagnosis of small cell LC, whereas 30 patients (83%) had a diagnosis of non-small cell LC. The most common symptoms were fever (n= 28, 77%), coughing and myalgia (n= 21, 58%) and dyspnea (n= 18, 50%). The most common radiological finding was ground glass opacity (GGO) (n= 30), of which 13 was bilateral and 17 was unilateral in distribution. Nearly 30% (n= 11) of LC patients with COVID-19 developed severe disease, 5% (n= 2) of the 36 patients were admitted to intensive care unit and all of these patients eventually expired. LC patients with COVID-19 and patchy consolidation on computed tomography of thorax (Th CT) on admission had a higher risk of developing severe disease in univariate (HR 2.41, 95%CI: 1.4-4.4, p= 0.04) and multivariate Cox regression analysis (HR 0.48, 95%CI: 0.24-0.97, p= 0.03). Conclusion: Clinical characteristics, laboratory and radiographic findings were similar in LC patients with COVID-19 when compared with the general population, LC patients have a higher mortality rate than the general population, with a 5% mortality rate in our series. Our findings suggest that LC may be a risk factor associated with the prognosis of COVID-19 patients.