Race is Related with Increased COVID-19 Infection and Outcomes in Oncology Patients

Abstract

We seek to assess racial disparities in oncology patients with COVID19 compared to appropriately matched controls with and without COVID19. All patients treated at the Seidman Cancer Center with a diagnosis of COVID19 and cancer were identified from the electronic medical record using ICD9/ICD10 codes for cancer diagnoses and database of all patients diagnosed with COVID19. Two control groups, cancer patients without COVID19 and patients without cancer but with COVID19, were generated and matched 3:1 on age at date of data extraction, age at cancer diagnosis, and sex to COVID19 positive cancer cases. African Americans (AA) and Whites made up 8.6% vs. 76.9% of the baseline oncologic population without COVID19, respectively. AA representation (41.0%) was significantly increased in cancer patients positive for COVID19 compared to those negative for COVID19 (p<0.001). In the comparison of patients with COVID19 with or without cancer, the proportion of AA cases was greater in the non-oncologic population (41.0% vs. 47.6%, p=0.014). AA are disproportionately affected with COVID19 in oncologic and benign populations. Despite similar rates of adverse outcomes to COVID19 in cancer patients by race, we found a 32.4% increase in the AA proportion compared to those without COVID19. These findings suggest COVID19 prevention policies and future studies should account for racial differences in the oncology population.