The incidence of clinical COVID-19 infection in patients undergoing radiotherapy during the first two peaks in a university hospital in Iran
-
Reza Ghaletaki
,
Ali Kazemian
,
Saeed Rezaei
,
Fatemeh Soleimanian
,
Negin Mohammadi
,
Mahdi Aghili
,
Nima Mousavi Darzikolaee
,
Ebrahim Esmati
Abstract
Background and Objective: During the COVID-19 epidemic, concerns about cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy have increased because of the numerous hospital visits which potentially may increase the risk of contracting COVID-19. We aimed to investigate the incidence of COVID-19 among patients visiting our radiation oncology department during the first and second peaks of the epidemic. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included all patients who underwent radiotherapy from November 2019 to September 2020. We made a telephone call to the patients and asked if they had COVID-19 during this time, and if so, how they were diagnosed? Both clinical signs or a positive PCR test were acceptable as COVID-19 diagnostic criteria. We also gathered the data regarding cancer and treatment status out of the patients’ records in the ward medical library. This study was approved by the institutional review board and ethics committee (code: IR.TUMS.VCR.REC.1399.104). Results During the study period, 687 patients were admitted to our radiation oncology ward. The median age was 55 (IQR: 44-65) and 424 (61.7%) were female. Twenty-three (3.3%) patients developed COVID-19, 15 (65.2%) of whom were diagnosed with clinical symptoms and 8 (34.8%) with PCR. Twelve and 11 patients contracted COVID-19 in the first and second peaks of the epidemic, respectively. Even though no patients with skin cancer or sarcomas of the bone or soft tissue contracted COVID-19, the highest frequency for COVID-19 was seen among patients with intrathoracic or lung cancer with 38 times the odds of patients with head and neck cancer to catch COVID-19. The following highly susceptible patients were those with hematologic and upper GI and gynecologic cancers, respectively. We found a significant association between intrathoracic (mainly lung) cancers and being infected with COVID-19 (P-Value = 0.02). Conclusion Patients undergoing intrathoracic cancer radiotherapy are at higher risk to contract COVID-19. We believe these patients should be prioritized in any screening or case-finding program in cancer patients and also in vaccination programs.
1. Yin T, Li Y, Ying Y, et al (2021) Prevalence of comorbidity in Chinese patients with COVID-19: systematic review and meta-analysis of risk factors. BMC infectious diseases 21:200.
2. Zhang H, Han H, He T, et al (2021) Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of COVID-19-Infected Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 113:371-380.
3. Aghili M, Ghalehtaki R, Mousavi Darzikolaee N, et al (2020) Radiotherapy and COVID-19: Practical recommendations from iran. Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 149:70-71.
4. Garrett L (2020) COVID-19: the medium is the message. The lancet 395:942-943.
5. Goyal P, Choi JJ, Pinheiro LC, et al (2020) Clinical characteristics of Covid-19 in New York city. New England Journal of Medicine 382:2372-2374.
6. Leung JM, Yang CX, Sin DD (2020) Reply to: “Current smoking is not associated with COVID-19”. European Respiratory Journal 55.
7. Zarocostas J (2020) How to fight an infodemic. The lancet 395:676.
8. Liang W, Guan W, Chen R, et al (2020) Cancer patients in SARSCoV- 2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. The lancet oncology21:335-337.
9. Yang F, Shi S, Zhu J, et al (2020) Clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients with COVID‐19. Journal of medical virology 92:2067-2073.
10. Zhang H, Han H, He T, et al (2021) Clinical characteristics andoutcomes of COVID-19–infected cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 113:371-380.
11. Zhang L, Zhu F, Xie L, et al (2020) Clinical characteristics ofCOVID-19-infected cancer patients: a retrospective case study in three hospitals within Wuhan, China. Annals of oncology 31:894-901.
12. Khalagi K, Gharibzadeh S, Khalili D, et al (2021) Prevalence of COVID-19 in Iran: Results of the first survey of the Iranian COVID- 19 Serological Surveillance program. Clinical Microbiologyand Infection.
13. Foote MB, White JR, Jee J, et al (2021) Association of Antineoplastic Therapy With Decreased SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates in Patients With Cancer. JAMA oncology.
14. Mashayekhi-Sardoo H, Hosseinjani H (2021) A new application of mTOR inhibitor drugs as potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19. Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology.
15. Day CJ, Bailly B, Guillon P, et al (2021) Multidisciplinary ApproachesIdentify Compounds that Bind to Human ACE2 or SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein as Candidates to Block SARS-CoV-2– ACE2 Receptor Interactions.
16. Liaquat H, Shupp B, Rollins S, et al (2021) Comparison of the im¬pact of chronic corticosteroid therapy on critical care outcomes of COVID-19 patients with and without history of chronic liver disease. Scientific Reports 11:1-11.
17. Calabrò L, Peters S, Soria J-C, et al (2020) Challenges in lung cancer therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Res¬piratory Medicine.
18. Whisenant JG, Trama A, Torri V, et al (2020) TERAVOLT: tho- racic cancers international COVID-19 collaboration. Cancer Cell 37:742-745.
19. Milette S, Fiset PO, Walsh LA, et al (2019) The innate immune architecture of lung tumors and its implication in disease pro¬gression. The Journal of pathology 247:589-605.
20. Mehta P, McAuley DF, Brown M, et al (2020) COVID-19: con¬sider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. The lancet 395:1033-1034.
21. Ruan Q, Yang K, Wang W, et al (2020) Clinical predictors of mor¬tality due to COVID-19 based on an analysis of data of 150 patients from Wuhan, China. Intensive care medicine 46:846-848.
22. Whisenant J, Wong S, Torri V, et al (2021) P09. 18 COVID-19 Outcomes in Patients With Thoracic Malignancies According to Gender and Ethnicity (TERAVOLT). Journal of Thoracic Oncol¬ogy 16:S297.
23. Abdollahi A, Salarvand S, Mehrtash V, et al (2021) The Perfor¬mance of SARS-CoV-2 Serology Testing in the Diagnosis of COV¬ID-19. Iranian Journal of Pathology.
24. Ghalehtaki R, Kolahdouzan K, Rezaei S, et al (2021) Cancer has an independent association with death in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a single-center study in Iran. Basic & Clinical Cancer Research 13:1-8.
2. Zhang H, Han H, He T, et al (2021) Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of COVID-19-Infected Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 113:371-380.
3. Aghili M, Ghalehtaki R, Mousavi Darzikolaee N, et al (2020) Radiotherapy and COVID-19: Practical recommendations from iran. Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 149:70-71.
4. Garrett L (2020) COVID-19: the medium is the message. The lancet 395:942-943.
5. Goyal P, Choi JJ, Pinheiro LC, et al (2020) Clinical characteristics of Covid-19 in New York city. New England Journal of Medicine 382:2372-2374.
6. Leung JM, Yang CX, Sin DD (2020) Reply to: “Current smoking is not associated with COVID-19”. European Respiratory Journal 55.
7. Zarocostas J (2020) How to fight an infodemic. The lancet 395:676.
8. Liang W, Guan W, Chen R, et al (2020) Cancer patients in SARSCoV- 2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. The lancet oncology21:335-337.
9. Yang F, Shi S, Zhu J, et al (2020) Clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients with COVID‐19. Journal of medical virology 92:2067-2073.
10. Zhang H, Han H, He T, et al (2021) Clinical characteristics andoutcomes of COVID-19–infected cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute 113:371-380.
11. Zhang L, Zhu F, Xie L, et al (2020) Clinical characteristics ofCOVID-19-infected cancer patients: a retrospective case study in three hospitals within Wuhan, China. Annals of oncology 31:894-901.
12. Khalagi K, Gharibzadeh S, Khalili D, et al (2021) Prevalence of COVID-19 in Iran: Results of the first survey of the Iranian COVID- 19 Serological Surveillance program. Clinical Microbiologyand Infection.
13. Foote MB, White JR, Jee J, et al (2021) Association of Antineoplastic Therapy With Decreased SARS-CoV-2 Infection Rates in Patients With Cancer. JAMA oncology.
14. Mashayekhi-Sardoo H, Hosseinjani H (2021) A new application of mTOR inhibitor drugs as potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19. Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology.
15. Day CJ, Bailly B, Guillon P, et al (2021) Multidisciplinary ApproachesIdentify Compounds that Bind to Human ACE2 or SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein as Candidates to Block SARS-CoV-2– ACE2 Receptor Interactions.
16. Liaquat H, Shupp B, Rollins S, et al (2021) Comparison of the im¬pact of chronic corticosteroid therapy on critical care outcomes of COVID-19 patients with and without history of chronic liver disease. Scientific Reports 11:1-11.
17. Calabrò L, Peters S, Soria J-C, et al (2020) Challenges in lung cancer therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Res¬piratory Medicine.
18. Whisenant JG, Trama A, Torri V, et al (2020) TERAVOLT: tho- racic cancers international COVID-19 collaboration. Cancer Cell 37:742-745.
19. Milette S, Fiset PO, Walsh LA, et al (2019) The innate immune architecture of lung tumors and its implication in disease pro¬gression. The Journal of pathology 247:589-605.
20. Mehta P, McAuley DF, Brown M, et al (2020) COVID-19: con¬sider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. The lancet 395:1033-1034.
21. Ruan Q, Yang K, Wang W, et al (2020) Clinical predictors of mor¬tality due to COVID-19 based on an analysis of data of 150 patients from Wuhan, China. Intensive care medicine 46:846-848.
22. Whisenant J, Wong S, Torri V, et al (2021) P09. 18 COVID-19 Outcomes in Patients With Thoracic Malignancies According to Gender and Ethnicity (TERAVOLT). Journal of Thoracic Oncol¬ogy 16:S297.
23. Abdollahi A, Salarvand S, Mehrtash V, et al (2021) The Perfor¬mance of SARS-CoV-2 Serology Testing in the Diagnosis of COV¬ID-19. Iranian Journal of Pathology.
24. Ghalehtaki R, Kolahdouzan K, Rezaei S, et al (2021) Cancer has an independent association with death in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: a single-center study in Iran. Basic & Clinical Cancer Research 13:1-8.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 13 No 2 (2021) | |
| Section | Original Articles | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/bccr.v13i2.10028 | |
| Keywords | ||
| COVID-19 Neoplasms Radiotherapy Lung Neoplasms Screening Vaccination | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Ghaletaki R, Kazemian A, Rezaei S, Soleimanian F, Mohammadi N, Aghili M, Mousavi Darzikolaee N, Esmati E. The incidence of clinical COVID-19 infection in patients undergoing radiotherapy during the first two peaks in a university hospital in Iran. Basic Clin Cancer Res. 2022;13(2):127-132.
