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Master of Public Health

Patients Recently Treated for B-lymphoid Malignancies Show Increased Risk of Severe COVID-19

AUTHORS

Rubinstein SM , Bhutani D , Lynch RC , Hsu CY , Shyr Y , Advani S , Mesa RA , Mishra S , Mundt DP , Shah DP , Sica RA , Stockerl-Goldstein KE , Stratton C , Weiss M , Beeghly-Fadiel A , Accordino M , Assouline SE , Awosika J , Bakouny Z , Bashir B , Berg S , Bilen MA , Castellano CA , Cogan JC , Kc D , Friese CR , Gupta S , Hausrath D , Hwang C , Johnson NA , Joshi M , Kasi A , Klein EJ , Koshkin VS , Kuderer NM , Kwon DH , Labaki C , Latif T , Lau E , Li X , Lyman GH , McKay RR , Nagaraj G , Nizam A , Nonato TK , Olszewski AJ , Polimera HV , Portuguese AJ , Puc MM , Razavi P , Rosovski R , Schmidt A , Shah SA , Shastri A , Su C , Torka P , Wise-Draper TM , Zubiri L , Warner JL , Thompson MA , , . Blood cancer discovery. ; 3(3). 181-193

ABSTRACT

Patients with B-lymphoid malignancies have been consistently identified as a population at high risk of severe COVID-19. Whether this is exclusively due to cancer-related deficits in humoral and cellular immunity, or whether risk of severe COVID-19 is increased by anticancer therapy, is uncertain. Using data derived from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19), we show that patients treated for B-lymphoid malignancies have an increased risk of severe COVID-19 compared with control populations of patients with non-B-lymphoid malignancies. Among patients with B-lymphoid malignancies, those who received anticancer therapy within 12 months of COVID-19 diagnosis experienced increased COVID-19 severity compared with patients with non-recently treated B-lymphoid malignancies, after adjustment for cancer status and several other prognostic factors. Our findings suggest that patients recently treated for a B-lymphoid malignancy are at uniquely high risk for severe COVID-19.

SIGNIFICANCE: Our study suggests that recent therapy for a B-lymphoid malignancy is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 severity. These findings provide rationale to develop mitigation strategies targeted at the uniquely high-risk population of patients with recently treated B-lymphoid malignancies. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 171.

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