TY - JOUR T1 - Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Treatment and Oncologic Outcomes for Cancer Patients in Romania JF - In Vivo JO - In Vivo SP - 934 LP - 941 DO - 10.21873/invivo.12783 VL - 36 IS - 2 AU - OANA GABRIELA TRIFANESCU AU - LAURENTIA GALES AU - XENIA BACINSCHI AU - LUIZA SERBANESCU AU - MIHAI GEORGESCU AU - ALEXANDRA SANDU AU - ALEXANDRU MICHIRE AU - RODICA ANGHEL Y1 - 2022/03/01 UR - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/36/2/934.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: This study aimed to assess the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on cancer patients, known to be immune-compromised due to the disease itself, oncological treatments and adjuvant medicines use such as steroids. Overall survival was determined for patients with COVID-19 infection and stratification according to known comorbidities and complications was performed. Patients and Methods: This prospective study included ninety cancer patients with COVID-19 confirmed by PCR testing performed before each cycle of chemotherapy or every two weeks during radiotherapy between May and December 2020 in two tertiary Cancer Centers. Demographic, cancer-related and SARS-CoV-2 infection data were collected and long-term oncologic outcome was assessed. Results: Mean age of cancer patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 was 59.7±12.1 years (range=30-83 years). Fifty-two (57.7%) were women. The most frequent cancer localization was breast (n=28, 31.1%) followed by colorectal (n=11, 12.2%) and lung cancer (n=8, 8.8%). Most patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 were diagnosed in stage IV of the disease (n=44, 48.9%) followed by stage III (n=19, 21.1%) and stage II disease (18.9%). Regarding comorbidities, the most common was hypertension (n=31) followed by cardiac dysfunction (n=23) and type II diabetes (n=13). Of 27 (30%) patients who needed hospitalization, 4 patients developed severe infection, 17 patients had mild symptoms and 6 patients were minimally symptomatic. After a median follow-up of 22.5 months, 5 patients (5.55%) died due to SARS-COV-2 infection, all stages III and IV. Median estimated overall survival was 14 months in patients who died because of COVID infection compared to 98 months in cancer-related mortality analysis (p<0.0001). Three deaths occurred during chemotherapy, 1 death in the chemoradiotherapy radiotherapy group. Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with an excess mortality in our study population, especially in patients with advanced and metastatic disease and in those receiving immunosuppressive treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. ER -