BACKGROUND: This is the largest and only multivariate study evaluating the difference in mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) between patients with cancer and patients without cancer in the United States. The objective was to assess COVID-19 mortality rates in patients with cancer versus patients without cancer and uncover possible statistically significant characteristics contributing to mortality. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed patients with cancer and patients without cancer who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from March 1 through April 30, 2020. This was a multicenter study in the state of Louisiana throughout the Ochsner Health System in both tertiary and nontertiary centers. Patients older than 18 years were eligible. Three hundred twelve patients with cancer were compared with 4833 patients without cancer. RESULTS: Mortality was found to be higher in the cancer group. Patients of advanced age with cancer had a significant increase in mortality (odds ratio [OR], 5.96; P < .001). Other significant risk factors for increased mortality were male sex (OR, 2.15), a history of chronic kidney disease (OR, 3.84), and obesity (OR, 1.30). In hospitalized patients with cancer, adverse vital signs on admission, decreased absolute lymphocyte counts, thrombocytopenia, elevated creatinine, lactic acidosis, and elevated procalcitonin all seemed to increase the risk of death. Among patients with cancer, active or progressive disease (P < .001) and recent therapy (OR, 2.34; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-5.08) were shown to increase mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with cancer have increased mortality in the setting of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in comparison with patients without cancer. Patients with cancer who are 65 years of age or older and those with certain comorbidities have the greatest risk of death. Recent cancer-directed therapy and disease status also seem to play roles in mortality.

BackgroundCorticosteroids (CS) are the mainstay of immune-related adverse effect (irAE) management, as well as for other indications in cancer treatment. Previous studies evaluating whether CS affect immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) efficacy compared patients receiving CS versus no CS. However, there is a paucity of clinical data evaluating the timing of concomitant CS and CPI efficacy.MethodsWe retrospectively collected data from patients who received CS during CPI treatment at a single institution. Patients were in two cohorts based on timing of initiation of CS (≥2 months vs <2 months after initiating CPI). Patient characteristics, irAEs, cancer type, treatment type, treatment response/progression per RECIST V.1.1, and survival data were collected. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression methods estimated HRs for the primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) along with overall survival (OS).ResultsWe identified 247 patients with metastatic cancer who received CS concurrently with CPIs. The median time on CS was 1.8 months. After adjusting for treatment type, tumor type, brain metastases, and irAEs, those treated with CS ≥2 months after starting CPI had a statistically significant longer PFS (HR=0.30, p<0.001), and OS (HR 0.34, p<0.0001) than those who received CS <2 months after starting CPI. Objective response rate (ORR) for patients on CS ≥2 months was 39.8%, versus ORR for patients <2 months was 14.7% (p value =<0.001)ConclusionOur results suggest that early use of CS during CPI treatment significantly hinders CPI efficacy. This data needs to be validated prospectively. Future studies should focus on the immune mechanisms by which CSs affect T-cell function early in the CPI treatment course.

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread throughout the world and has infected close to 4 million people. It commonly presents with fever, cough, and fatigue. Due to the high inflammatory response, it is suggested that the coagulation cascade is enhanced causing thrombotic events for many patients. We describe a patient with clinical features of cerebrovascular accident, as well as documented blood clots in bilateral upper extremities. Labs revealed the presence of cold agglutinin hemolytic anemia. The association between cold agglutinin autoimmune hemolytic anemia and thrombotic events in COVID-19 patients has not been well investigated. The patient unfortunately passed away within 48 hours after admission. This case stresses the importance of considering a full workup to diagnose autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) in COVID-19 patients with thromboses and possible implications for management.

e15108 Background: Obesity is associated with 13 different cancer types, accounting for 40% of all cancers1. A few studies have linked a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) with longer Progression Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS) from immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPI)s in patients with advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma2,3,4. Our study evaluates CPI efficacy in patients with multiple tumor types in relation to Body Mass Index (BMI). Methods: We retrospectively collected data from patients treated with CPIs alone who also received steroids during their treatment from a single institution. This data included demographics such as age, sex, and BMI. Response and progression were defined per RECIST v1.1. The association of BMI and PFS was assessed by exact chi-square test. Kaplan Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression methods were used to estimate the survival probability and hazard ratios. Results: We identified a total of 129 overweight or obese patients (49%) with stage IV cancer who received CPI therapy. CDC guidelines define overweight as BMI > 25 and obese as BMI > 30. There was a significant relationship between PFS and BMI. Median PFS for those overweight was 287 days and 479 days for obese. Those with BMI 18.5-25 (normal), median PFS was 128 days and 103 days for those underweight (BMI < 18.5), (p = .0024). There was also a significant relationship between OS and BMI. Median OS for those obese was 751 days, for those overweight was 462 days. Median OS for those normal weight was 281 days and those underweight was 273 days (p = .0005). Obese patients had a 48% reduced risk of progression of disease/death as compared to those who had normal BMI (Hazard Ratio 0.52, p = .019). Overweight had a 31.5% relative risk reduction (HR 0.685, p = .05). Overall Response Rate was not significant between the two groups but there was a strong trend (p = .087). Conclusions: Higher BMI was associated with improved PFS and OS in patients with metastatic cancer across 20 different tumor types. Further investigation into the immune mechanisms behind this may lead to improvement in CPI efficacy for all patients.

e15133 Background: Steroids are the mainstay of immune-related adverse effect (irAE) management, as well as for other indications in cancer treatment. Previous studies evaluating whether steroids have an effect on immune checkpoint inhibitor (CPI) efficacy compared patients receiving steroids vs. no steroids. This comparison may be confounded by different rates of irAEs and a known association of irAEs with higher response rates to CPIs. There is a paucity of CPI efficacy data in relation to the total dose of concomitant steroids. Methods: We retrospectively collected data from patients treated with CPIs alone, who received steroids during their CPI treatment at a single institution. IrAEs were defined using the CTCAEv5 criteria. Response rate (RR) and progression were defined per RECIST v1.1. Kaplan Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression methods were used to estimate the survival probability and hazard ratios (HR). Results: We identified 260 patients with stage IV cancer who received steroids concurrently with CPI treatment. A total of 111 patients (42.7%) received ≥1000mg prednisone equivalence during the course of their CPI treatment, and the remaining 149 patients (57.3%) received < 1000mg PED. There was no difference in progression free survival (PFS) between the two cohorts [HR of 0.923 for < 1000 mg PED group; p = 0.6016] or in overall survival (OS) [0.854 for < 1000 mg PED group, p = 0.3308]. Median PFS for the < 1000mg group was 5.9 months (mo), vs 6.3 mo in the ≥1000mg group. Median OS for the < 1000mg group was 15.76 mo, vs 11.53 mo in the ≥1000mg group. The RR was numerically higher in the prednisone < 1000mg cohort at 29.53% vs 20.72% in the ≥1000mg cohort, however not statistically significant (p = 0.1082). Basic characteristics including sex, race, tumor type, and smoking status, were similar between the two groups. There was a statistically significant difference in BMI distribution and steroid indication (irAE indication higher in >1000 mg PED cohort than non-irAE) between the two groups. Conclusions: PFS, OS, and RR were not different between patients who received >1000mg vs. < 1000mg PED during CPI therapy. These data suggest that even high doses and protracted courses of corticosteroids may not hinder CPI efficacy. However, differences in our primary endpoint PFS may be confounded by difference in BMI and rates of irAEs between each cohort, which are both known to be associated with improved CPI efficacy. Further analyses to account for these differences along with how timing of steroid initiation affects CPI-efficacy will be completed by time of presentation.