by Jielin Wei, Mengjiao Wu, Jing Liu, Xu Wang, Hua Yang,
Pengfei Xia, Ling Peng, Yu Huang, Cuiwei Liu, Zihan Xia, Chuang Chen, Yanxia
Zhao
The Breast: VOLUME 59, P102-109, OCTOBER
01, 2021
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant worldwide health
crisis. Breast cancer patients with COVID-19 are fragile and require particular
clinical care. This study aimed to identify the clinical characteristics of
breast cancer patients with COVID-19 and the risks associated with anti-cancer
treatment.
Methods
The medical records of breast cancer patients with
laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 were collected among 9559 COVID-19 patients from
seven designated hospitals from 13th January to 18th March 2020 in Hubei,
China. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess risk
factors for COVID-19 severity.
Results
Of the 45 breast cancer patients with COVID-19, 33 (73.3%)
developed non-severe COVID-19, while 12 (26.7%) developed severe COVID-19, of
which 3 (6.7%) patients died. The median age was 62 years, and 3 (6.7%)
patients had stage IV breast cancer. Univariate analysis showed that age over
75 and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score were associated with
COVID-19 disease severity (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed
that patients who received chemotherapy within 7 days had a significantly
higher risk for severe COVID-19 (logistic regression model:
RR = 13.886, 95% CI 1.014–190.243, P = 0.049; Cox
proportional hazards model: HR = 13.909, 95% CI 1.086–178.150, P = 0.043),
with more pronounced neutropenia and higher LDH, CRP and procalcitonin levels
than other patients (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
In our breast cancer cohort, the severity of COVID-19 could
be associated with baseline factors such as age over 75 and ECOG scores.
Chemotherapy within 7 days before symptom onset could be a risk factor for
severe COVID-19, reflected by neutropenia and elevated LDH, CRP and
procalcitonin levels.
