In a new study from the Imperial College London and elsewhere, researchers found the risk of death for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and thoracic cancer is based on seven major determinants.
They analyzed data from The Thoracic Cancers International COVID-19 Collaboration (TERAVOLT).
In total, 114 centers across 19 countries have activated the study, and 92 have contributed data.
In addition to reporting on outcomes associated with morbidity and mortality, TERAVOLT aims to determine the risk factors associated with poor outcomes.
As of April 15, 2021, the researchers had evaluated 1491 patients from 18 countries.
With an observation period of about 42 days, the team reported 361 events with an all-cause case fatality rate of 24.2%.
The fast-backward step-down selection then identified 7 major determinants of death from more than 70 variables analyzed:
- ECOG-PS (It describes a patient’s level of functioning in terms of their ability to care for themself, daily activity, and physical ability)
- Neutrophil count (body infection marker)
- Serum procalcitonin (marker of the systemic inflammatory response to infection)
- Tumor stage at COVID-19 diagnosis
- Development of pneumonia
- C-reactive protein (CRP, a sign of acute inflammation)
- Age
Given the disease characteristics and the common target organ, patients with thoracic cancer have been shown to experience higher morbidity and mortality from SARS-CoV-2 infection, with case fatality rates ranging from 22% to 41% according to literature.
Poor ECOG-PS showed the strongest association with poor outcomes from COVID-19.
The team says COVID-19 will still impact the continuity of care of patients with cancer, at least to a certain extent.
If you care about Covid, please read studies about new COVID-19 vaccine booster that could effectively prevent disease, and drug that may prevent COVID death and lung damage.
For more information about Covid, please see recent studies that even symptom-free, people with Omicron are much more likely to spread COVID, and results showing that Omicron can be neutralized by a booster dose.
The study is published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology and was conducted by Alessio Cortellini et al.
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