COVID-19 in Oncologic Patients: a Clinical-Epidemiological Profile Review

Abstract

Introduction: Since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, studies indicate that oncologic patients represent one of the main risk groups. Objective: To synthesize the literature addressing clinical and epidemiological profile of oncologic patients with COVID-19. Method: A systematic review of the literature was carried out in the PubMed database, utilizing the descriptors COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, 2019-nCoV, n-CoV and coronavirus combined with cancer, tumor and malignancy. Results: Of the 821 articles found, nine texts were included in the qualitative analysis, totaling 39 individuals, predominantly male (74.4% men): China (6 texts, 35 patients), Nigeria (1 text, 1 patient), France (1 text, 2 patients), Denmark (1 text, 1 patient). Lung (51.3%; n=20) and breast (10.3%; n=4) cancers were the most prevalent. In 87.2% (n=34), information about life habits were not reported. Respiratory symptoms (46.8%; n=18) and fever (43.6%; n=17) stood out. Six patients died (15.4%), four were discharged due to cure (10.2%), two remained hospitalized until the study was published (5.2%) and for the other patients (69.3%, n=27), the manuscript did not inform the outcome. Conclusion: Adequate care for this special group of patients when infected with the new coronavirus is essential in pursuing better outcomes. Further studies are still needed to better understand how COVID-19 behaves in cancer patients.