The GCO-002 CACOVID-19 Cohort: a French Nationwide Multicenter Study of COVID-19 Infected Cancer Patients

Since December 2019, China and then the rest of the world have been affected by the rapid development of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2). The disease caused by this coronavirus (COVID-19), which is transmitted by air via droplets, is potentially responsible for a severe respiratory syndrome but also for a multivisceral deficiency that can lead to death. Cancer patients are generally more susceptible to infections than people without cancer due to immunosuppression caused by their tumor disease and/or conventional anti-cancer treatments used such as cytotoxic chemotherapy, several targeted therapies, radiotherapy or recent surgery. These patients may therefore be at particular risk for COVID-19. This is suggested by the very first analysis on the subject, which reports data from the Chinese prospective database of 2007 patients with proven COVID-19 infection in 575 hospitals in 31 Chinese provinces. The authors of this publication conclude with 3 measures to be proposed to patients undergoing cancer follow-up: 1/ consider postponing adjuvant chemotherapy or surgery in the case of localized and stable cancer, 2/ reinforce protective measures for these patients, and 3/ monitor very closely and treat these patients more intensively when they have a COVID-19. However, the increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe forms of COVID-19 in cancer patients suggested by this first study remains to be demonstrated given its limitations, already highlighted by other authors. Indeed, the number of patients is small and the population of cancer patients is very heterogeneous, with in particular 12 patients out of 16 who had recovered from initial cancer treatments (therefore without immunosuppression), half of whom had a disease course of more than 4 years. Nevertheless, a second Chinese study has just recently been published, reporting COVID-19 data among 1524 cancer patients admitted between December 30, 2019 and February 17, 2020 in the Department of Radiotherapy and Medical Oncology of the University Hospital of Wuhan, the source city of the COVID-19 epidemic. Although the rate of CoV-2 SARS infection was lower than that reported in the first study, it was still 0.79% (n=12), which is much higher than the rate of COVID-19 diagnosed in Wuhan City during the same period (0.37%, 41 152/11 081 000). Again, lung cancer was the main tumour location observed in 7 patients (58%), of which 5 (42%) were undergoing chemotherapy +/- immunotherapy. Three deaths (25%) were reported. Patients over 60 years of age with lung cancer had a higher incidence of COVID-19 (4.3% vs. 1.8%). Thus, it appears that the risk of COVID-19 is actually increased in cancer patients, although again, less than half of the patients with lung cancer had a higher incidence of COVID-19. Moreover, two more recent studies performed in patients treated in Hubei Province of China and in New-York city found that patients with cancer had significantly increased risk of death compared to non-cancer COVID-19 patients, especially patients with metastatic cancer and those who had recent surgery. Therefore, many questions remain to date on the level of risk and the severity of COVID-19 in patients with active cancer, in particular those under anti-cancer treatment and in patients recently operated for localized cancer.

Sex

All

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Age ≥ 18 years old
* Patient undergoing treatment or under surveillance or recently diagnosed and who has not yet started treatment for cancer at one of the following locations : digestive (esophagus, stomach, colorectal, small intestine, pancreas, biliary tract, Vater's ampulla, liver, GIST, neuroendocrine tumour, anal canal, primary peritoneum, appendix), thoracic (non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer (SCLC), mesothelioma), head and neck (oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, hypopharynx, nasopharynx, salivary glands, sinus), gynecological (breast, ovary, cervix, endometrium, vulva), central nervous system, dermatological, urological (prostate, kidney, bladder and upper urinary tract, external genitals)
* Patient with PCR and/or serology and/or CT-scan confirmed SARS-COV-2 infection or with suggestive COVID-19 syndrome (fever, fatigue, body aches, headache, cough, dyspnea, sudden onset of anosmia or ageusia in the absence of rhinitis or nasal obstruction) without biological or CT-scan confirmation during the period of March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020.
* Inpatient or outpatient
* Patient informed of the research and, by way of derogation, patient treated in an emergency situation

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients whose cancer in the cohort was treated curatively more than 5 years ago, with no evidence of recurrence at the time of the SARS-COV-2 infection.
* Patient expressing opposition to participating in the cohort
* Patient subject to a protective measure (patient under guardianship or curatorship)