A study shows new cancer patients & African Americans are at higher risk for Covid-19: Of 13 common cancers studied, the highest risk of infection was linked to lung cancer, leukemia, and lymphoma.
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Here’s more information on the COVID and Cancer study:
A new study published in Jama Oncology by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researchers and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center shows African Americans and cancer patients are significantly at risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality.
The study looked at medical records for 73.4 million patients in the U.S.
According to the study, cancer patients still showed a much higher risk for COVID-19 than non-cancer patients, even after adjusting for COVID-19 risk factors.
Of 13 common cancers studied, the highest risk of infection was linked to lung cancer, leukemia, and lymphoma.
“We saw the highest level of risk linked to cancers of the blood, which change the way immune blood cells work,” said Nathan Berger, MD, study co-author and professor at the School of Medicine. “Cancer patients are more likely to get infections due to changes in their immune systems. They also come into contact with many front-line health care workers, which could add to the burden on their already overtaxed immune systems.”
Patients diagnosed with cancer in the last year were at higher risk for COVID-19 infection than those with longstanding cancer diagnoses.
An examination of demographic factors such as age, sex, and race found African American patients with cancer were more likely to be infected by COVID-19 than white patients with cancer.
The social disparity was observed for all cancer types examined and was largest for breast cancer, followed by prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer.
Black patients with cancer also had higher hospitalization rates than white patients, however, they were not more likely to die of COVID-19.
These findings align with data that African American individuals are affected by COVID-19 at a disproportionately higher rate than white patients, the study shows.
“This profound racial disparity in COVID-19 infection in cancer patients demonstrates that other factors, including access to health care, socioeconomic status and other socially adverse components, may have contributed negatively to the increased risk of COVID-19 susceptibility in African Americans with cancers,” said Rong Xu, PhD, study co-author and professor of Biomedical Informatics and director of the Center of Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery at the School of Medicine.
If you have any questions our cancer experts at CyberKnife Miami would be happy to answer them. Call us at 305-279-2900