Introduction In this study, we aim to report the outcome of COVID‐19 in patients with hematological malignancy in Turkey. Method The data of laboratory‐confirmed 188,897 COVID‐19 patients diagnosed between March 11, 2020 and June 22, 2020 included in the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health database were analyzed retrospectively. All of the COVID‐19 patients with hematological malignancy (n=740) were included in the study and an age, gender and comorbidity matched COVID‐19 patients without cancer (n=740) at 1:1 ratio was used for comparison. Results Non Hodgkin lymphoma (30.1%), myelodysplastic syndrome (19.7%), myeloproliferative neoplasm (15.7%), were the most common hematological malignancies. The rates of severe and critical disease were significantly higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the patients without cancer (p=0.001). The rates of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the patients without cancer (p=0.023, p=0.001, respectively). The length of hospital stay and ICU stay were similar between groups (p=0.7, p=0.3; retrospectively). The rate of mechanical ventilation (MV) support was higher in patients with hematological malignancy compared to the control group (p=0.001). The case fatality rate (CFR) was 13.8% in patients with hematological malignancy, and it was 6.8% in the control group (p=0.001). Conclusion This study reveals that there is an increased risk of COVID‐19 related serious events (ICU admission, MV support or death) in patients with hematological malignancy compared to COVID‐19 patients without cancer and supports high vulnerability of patients with hematological malignancy in the current pandemic. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In this study, we aim to report the outcome of COVID-19 in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients. HCT recipients (n = 32) with hematological disease and hospitalized for COVID-19 were included in the study. A cohort of age and comorbid disease-matched hospitalized COVID-19 patients with hematological malignancy but not underwent HCT (n = 465), and another cohort of age and comorbid disease-matched hospitalized COVID-19 patients without cancer (n = 497) were also included in the study for comparison. Case fatality rate (CFR) was 5.6% in patients without cancer, 11.8 in patients with hematological malignancy and 15.6% in HCT recipients. The CFR in HCT recipients who were not receiving immunosuppressive agents at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis was 11.5%, whereas it was 33% in HCT recipients who were receiving an immunosuppressive agent at the time of COVID-19 diagnosis. In conclusion, our study reveals that for the current pandemic, HCT recipients, especially those receiving immunosuppressive drugs, constitute a special population of cancer patients.

Passive antibody therapy has been used to immunize vulnerable people against infectious agents. In this study, we aim to investigate the efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) in the treatment of severe and critically ill patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Method: The data of severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients who received anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody-containing CP along with the antiviral treatment (n = 888) and an age-gender, comorbidity, and other COVID-19 treatments matched severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients at 1:1 ratio (n = 888) were analyzed retrospectively. Results: Duration in the intensive care unit (ICU), the rate of mechanical ventilation (MV) support and vasopressor support were lower in CP group compared with the control group (p = 0.001, p = 0.02, p = 0.001, respectively). The case fatality rate (CFR) was 24.7 % in the CP group, and it was 27.7 % in the control group. Administration of CP 20 days after the COVID-19 diagnosis or COVID-19 related symptoms were associated with a higher rate of MV support compared with the first 3 interval groups (≤5 days, 6− 10 days, 11− 15 days) (p=0.001). Conclusion: CP therapy seems to be effective for a better course of COVID-19 in severe and critically ill patients.

Introduction In this study, we aim to report the outcome of COVID-19 in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Method The data of 16 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients with CML receiving TKI and age, gender, and comorbid disease matched COVID-19 patients without cancer at a 3/1 ratio (n = 48), diagnosed between March 11, 2020 and May 22, 2020 and included in the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Health database, were analyzed retrospectively. Results The rates of intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and mechanical ventilation (MV) support were lower in CML patients compared to the control group, however, these differences did not achieve statistical significance (p = 0.1, and p = 0.2, respectively). The length of hospital stay was shorter in CML patients compared with the control group; however, it was not statistically significant (p = 0.8). The case fatality rate (CFR) in COVID-19 patients with CML was 6.3%, and it was 12.8% in the control group. Although the CFR in CML patients with COVID-19 was lower compared to the control group, this difference did not achieve statistical significance (p = 0.5). When CML patients were divided into 3 groups according to the TKI, no significant difference was observed regarding the rate of ICU admission, MV support, CFR, the length of stay in both hospital and ICU (all p > 0.05). Conclusion This study highlights that large scale prospective and randomized studies should be conducted in order to investigate the role of TKIs in the treatment of COVID-19.

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