Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35671919›Full record

SynthesisJournal of cancer policy2022

The risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 or developing COVID-19 for people with cancer: A systematic review of the early evidence.

Chelsea Carle, Suzanne Hughes, Victoria Freeman, Denise Campbell, Sam Egger, Michael Caruana, Harriet Hui, Sarsha Yap, Silvia Deandrea, Tonia C Onyeka and 12 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of cancer policy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. [Incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients from the HIGA Alende, Mar del Plata, Argentina, 2020-2021]Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Medicas (Cordoba, Argentina) · 2025
    Article
  2. Association of Cancer History with COVID-19 Risk and Outcomes among Older Postmenopausal Women: Results from the Women's Health Initiative.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Chelsea CarleThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Suzanne HughesThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Victoria FreemanThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Denise CampbellThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Sam EggerThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Michael CaruanaThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Harriet HuiThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Sarsha YapThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Silvia DeandreaDirectorate General for Health, Lombardy Region, Milano, Italy; Environmental Health Unit, Agency for Health Protection, Pavia, Italy.
Tonia C OnyekaDepartment of Anaesthesia/Pain & Palliative Care Unit, Multidisciplinary Oncology Centre, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Nigeria.
Maarten J IJzermanUniversity of Melbourne, Centre for Cancer Research and Centre for Health Policy, Australia; Department of Cancer Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Ophira GinsburgPerlmutter Cancer Center and the Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, United States.
Freddie BrayCancer Surveillance Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
Richard SullivanKing's Institute of Cancer Policy, King's College, London, United Kingdom.
Ajay AggarwalKing's Institute of Cancer Policy, King's College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Oncology, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom; Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Stuart J PeacockCanadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC), Canada; Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer, Canada; Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Canada.
Kelvin K W ChanCanadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC), Canada; Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Timothy P HannaDivision of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Cancer Research Institute at Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Department of Oncology and Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Isabelle SoerjomataramCancer Surveillance Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France.
Dianne L O'ConnellThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
Karen CanfellThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia. Electronic address: karen.canfell@nswcc.org.au.
Julia SteinbergThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, A Joint Venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia. Electronic address: julia.steinberg@nswcc.org.au.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe early COVID-19 literature suggested that people with cancer may be more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 or develop COVID-19 than people without cancer, due to increased health services contact and/or immunocompromise. While some studies were criticised due to small patient numbers and methodological limitations, they created or reinforced concerns of clinicians and people with cancer. These risks are also important in COVID-19 vaccine prioritisation decisions. We performed a systematic review to critically assess and summarise the early literature. METHODS AND

findingsWe conducted a systematic search of Medline/Embase/BioRxiv/MedRxiv/SSRN databases including peer-reviewed journal articles, letters/commentaries, and non-peer-reviewed pre-print articles for 1 January-1 July 2020. The primary endpoints were diagnosis of COVID-19 and positive SARS-CoV-2 test. We assessed risk of bias using a tool adapted from the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Twelve studies were included in the quantitative synthesis. All four studies of COVID-19 incidence (including 24,181,727 individuals, 125,649 with pre-existing cancer) reported that people with cancer had higher COVID-19 incidence rates. Eight studies reported SARS-CoV-2 test positivity for > 472,000 individuals, 48,370 with pre-existing cancer. Seven of these studies comparing people with any and without cancer, were pooled using random effects [pooled odds ratio 0.91, 95 %CI: 0.57-1.47; unadjusted for age, sex, or comorbidities]. Two studies suggested people with active or haematological cancer had lower risk of a positive test. All 12 studies had high risk of bias; none included universal or random COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 testing.

conclusionsThe early literature on susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 for people with cancer is characterised by pervasive biases and limited data. To provide high-quality evidence to inform decision-making, studies of risk of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 for people with cancer should control for other potential modifiers of infection risk, including age, sex, comorbidities, exposure to the virus, protective measures taken, and vaccination, in addition to stratifying analyses by cancer type, stage at diagnosis, and treatment received.

Indexed as

COVID-19NeoplasmsCOVID-19 TestingCOVID-19 VaccinesHumansSARS-CoV-2COVID-19 VaccinesCOVID-19NeoplasmsSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID35671919
PMCPMC9167683

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.