Clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients and their hospital course during the COVID-19 pandemic in a developing country

Muhammad Sohaib Asghar; Farah Yasmin; Maryam Salma Babar; Muhammad Daim Bin Zafar; Syed Muhammad Ismail Shah; Muhammad Junaid Tahir

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2022.103284

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients and their hospital course during the COVID-19 pandemic in a developing country

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Feb:74:103284. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.103284. Epub 2022 Jan 30.

Authors

Muhammad Sohaib Asghar¹, Farah Yasmin², Maryam Salma Babar³, Muhammad Daim Bin Zafar², Syed Muhammad Ismail Shah⁴, Muhammad Junaid Tahir⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine at Dow University Hospital - Ojha Campus, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
² Department of Internal Medicine, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, Dubai Medical College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine at Ziauddin Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.

Abstract

In the new Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, cancer patients are considered a particularly susceptible population. We compared the type and magnitude of COVID-19 clinical manifestations among cancer patients in our center to non-cancer COVID-19 affected patients including 99 patients (28 cancer patients and 71 non-cancer patients). Hepatocellular carcinoma, breast carcinoma, and leukemia were the most common cancers. Diabetes and hypertension were prevalent comorbidities. Dyspnea, cough, fatigue, myalgia and diarrhea were statistically indifferent in both groups. Fatigue was more pronounced in cancer patients [OR: 2.573(1.025-6.460), p = 0.041] along with early onset of bilateral patchy consolidation [HR: 3.127(1.197-5.851), p = 0.032].

Keywords: COVID-19; Cancer; Manifestations; Pandemic; Severity.