Patients with newly diagnosed cancer are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection, particularly among Black cancer patients, compared to those without cancer, according to a JAMA Oncology study published Dec. 10.
Researchers analyzed EHR data from more than 73 million patients across the country, spanning 360 hospitals and 317,000 clinicians.
Results indicated that a recent cancer diagnosis was strongly linked to increased risk of COVID-19, with an adjusted odds ratio of 7.14. Those diagnosed with leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and lung cancer within the past year faced the greatest COVID-19 risk, with 12.16, 8.54 and 7.66 adjusted odds ratios, respectively. Thyroid cancer posed the least risk for COVID-19 with an odds ratio of 3.10.
Overall, Black patients with a recent cancer diagnosis were more likely to contract a COVID-19 infection than white patients. Black patients with a recent breast cancer diagnosis faced an odds ratio of 5.44, posing the greatest risk among common cancers. Cancer patients who also had COVID-19 had higher hospitalization and death rates than cancer-free COVID-19 patients and cancer patients without COVID-19.
Strategies to increase protection among this vulnerable group should be considered as a way to address these findings, the study said.