Open AccessCancer and Risk of COVID ‐19 Through a General Community Survey
Author(s) -
Lee Karla A.,
Ma Wenjie,
Sikavi Daniel R.,
Drew David A.,
Nguyen Long H.,
Bowyer Ruth C. E.,
Cardoso M. Jorge,
Fall Tove,
Freidin Maxim B.,
Gomez Maria,
Graham Mark,
Guo ChuanGuo,
Joshi Amit D.,
Kwon Sohee,
Lo ChunHan,
Lochlainn Mary Ni,
Menni Cristina,
Murray Benjamin,
Mehta Raaj,
Song Mingyang,
Sudre Carole H.,
Bataille Veronique,
Varsavsky Thomas,
Visconti Alessia,
Franks Paul W.,
Wolf Jonathan,
Steves Claire J.,
Ourselin Sebastien,
Spector Tim D.,
Chan Andrew T.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the oncologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.176
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1549-490X
pISSN - 1083-7159
DOI - 10.1634/theoncologist.2020-0572
Subject(s) - medicine , cancer , covid-19 , disease , adverse effect , population , pandemic , oncology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , environmental health
Individuals with cancer may be at high risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) and adverse outcomes. However, evidence from large population‐based studies examining whether cancer and cancer‐related therapy exacerbates the risk of COVID‐19 infection is still limited. Data were collected from the COVID Symptom Study smartphone application since March 29 through May 8, 2020. Among 23,266 participants with cancer and 1,784,293 without cancer, we documented 10,404 reports of a positive COVID‐19 test. Compared with participants without cancer, those living with cancer had a 60% increased risk of a positive COVID‐19 test. Among patients with cancer, current treatment with chemotherapy or immunotherapy was associated with a 2.2‐fold increased risk of a positive test. The association between cancer and COVID‐19 infection was stronger among participants >65 years and males. Future studies are needed to identify subgroups by tumor types and treatment regimens who are particularly at risk for COVID‐19 infection and adverse outcomes.