COVID‐19 in Patients with Cancer: A Retrospective Study of 212 Cases from a French SARS‐CoV‐2 Cluster During the First Wave of the COVID‐19 Pandemic

We describe a large series of patients with solid tumors in an early COVID‐19 cluster in the eastern part of France. From February to May 2020, this multicenter retrospective study enrolled 212 patients with cancer under treatment or on follow‐up for any type of malignant solid tumor and positive for SARS‐CoV‐2. The mortality rate was 30%. Patients with gastrointestinal cancers were identified as a subset of more vulnerable patients; immunotherapy and radiotherapy within 3 months from COVID‐19 diagnosis were risk factors for death. The reported data support the essential need to be proactive and weigh the risks of morbidity from COVID‐19 against the magnitude of benefits of intended cancer therapies during this pandemic. Implications for Practice This article supports the essential need to be proactive (treatment delay or modification) in oncology in the setting of pandemic. This study identified patients with gastrointestinal cancers as a more vulnerable subset of patients with cancer and found that immunotherapy and radiotherapy within 3 months from COVID‐19 diagnosis to be risk factors for death. The reported data indicate the necessity of weighing the risks of morbidity from COVID‐19 against the magnitude of benefits of intended cancer therapies in any future wave of COVID‐19. In the light of a local experience in an area of France, this article describes disease characteristics, management, and outcomes in patients with cancer and confirmed or highly suspected COVID‐19.