Clinical Presentations and Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Patients With Solid Tumors

Abstract

BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health crisis. The literature suggests that cancer patients are more prone to be affected by COVID-19 because cancer suppresses the immune system and such patients usually present poor results. The objective of this study is to present all clinical, laboratory, and demographic characteristics of COVID-19 patients with solid tumors. MethodologyThis study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences for a period of six months from April 2020 to September 2020. In this study, we included a total of 1,519 confirmed patients diagnosed with solid tumors via polymerase chain reaction. The mortality timeline within 30 days of contracting the virus was considered, and the median age of the included individuals was 61 years, with a range of 20-95 years. Of the patients included in the study, 49.4% (750) were men; moreover, 3.15% of our study population had prostate cancer, 10.20% had colorectal cancer, 2.76% had breast cancer, and 10.46% had lung cancer. Of the patients, 25.93% presented with at least one comorbidity. For 73% of the patients, at least one direct therapy for COVID-19 was included in the treatment; 56.6% of the patients were hospitalized, and 11.32% were admitted to the intensive care unit. ResultsThe mortality rate was 4.74% in the first 30 days after diagnosis, where 72 patients died. The findings of the first multi-variation model showed that males at older ages who were diabetic and going through cytotoxic therapy were prone to die within the first 30 days. However, the 30-day mortality rate was lower in patients diagnosed with prostate and breast cancer. The second set incorporated laboratory factors, where we found that higher values of leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and lymphocytopenia were correlated with higher rates of mortality within 30 days. ConclusionsWe conclude that there is a higher mortality rate of COVID-19 in patients with solid tumors than in the general population. However, it was found to be lower in the Pakistani population compared with the Chinese and Western populations. Intensive care can decrease mortality rates in COVID-19 and cancer patients.

The Impact of Health Status of Academic Staff on Attitudes towards COVID-19 Vaccination

“…Corpus of literature has reported that the intricate relationship between underlying health conditions and COVID-19 infection [25][26][27][28][29]. Also, as individuals with underlying conditions are diagnosed with COVID-19, they are more likely to die or suffer harsh consequences [17]. Unfortunately, the nding reported here had showed that those who are worse off may have unfavourable attitude towards the vaccination.…”

“…Also, Sinha and Kundu [30] noted that acquisition of COVID-19 by cancer patients could enhance the development and weaken the individual. In relation to patients with solid tumor, Farooque et al [17] reported a higher mortality among them compared to the general population. The psychological impact of COVID-19, in the form of anxiety, fear, stress and distress, on the general population and affected persons have been noted with a call for further attention paid to enhancing the well-being of the populace [31][32][33][34][35].…”

“…The COVID-19 disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SAR-COV-2) [10][11][12]. The major symptoms include but not limited to respiratory di culties, fever, cough, and muscle pain [13][14][15][16][17]. According to WHO, as of August 10, 2021, a total of 202,608,306 con rmed cases of COVID-19 has been reported globally with a total death of 4,293,591 [18].…”

“…Consistently, it has been argued that individuals with underlying health conditions are at risk of acquiring COVID-19 [13][14][15][16][17][25][26][27][28][29]. For example, in a review, Al-Quteimat et al [13] noted that cancer patients were at susceptible to COVID-19, severe complications, and at risk of dying from cancer.…”

Euthyroid Sick Syndrome as a Prognostic Indicator of COVID-19 Pulmonary Involvement, Associated With Poorer Disease Prognosis and Increased Mortality

“…Currently, the risk factors for COVID-19 include older age, male sex, and pre-existing medical conditions [ [16] , [17] , [18] ]. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control outlines health conditions reported among adult patients with severe COVID-19 disease: diabetes [ [18] , [19] , [20] ], obesity [ 21 ], hypertension [ 18 , 22 , 24 ], history of heart failure [ 22 ], solid organ tumors [ 23 ], ischemic heart disease [ 17 , 24 , 26 ], chronic respiratory disease [ 18 , 25 ], cancer [ 25 , 27 ], pregnancy [ 28 , 31 ], neurologic conditions [ 22 , 25 , 26 , 29 ], COPD [ 22 , 24 ], smoking [ 22 , 24 , 30 ] and chronic kidney disease [ [24] , [25] , [26] ].…”