Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35680113›Full record

SynthesisJournal of cancer policy2022

Are patients with cancer at higher risk of COVID-19-related death? A systematic review and critical appraisal of the early evidence.

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

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic 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 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. 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.

Victoria FreemanThe 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.
Chelsea CarleThe 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.
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.
Michael CaruanaThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a joint venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia.
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, VIC, 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 Cancer Policy, King's College London, United Kingdom.
Ajay AggarwalKing's Institute 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.
Julia SteinbergThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a joint venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia. Electronic address: julia.steinberg@nswcc.org.au.
Karen CanfellThe Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, a joint venture with Cancer Council NSW, Australia. Electronic address: karen.canfell@nswcc.org.au.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEarly reports suggested that COVID-19 patients with cancer were at higher risk of COVID-19-related death. We conducted a systematic review with risk of bias assessment and synthesis of the early evidence on the risk of COVID-19-related death for COVID-19 patients with and without cancer. METHODS AND

findingsWe searched Medline/Embase/BioRxiv/MedRxiv/SSRN databases to 1 July 2020. We included cohort or case-control studies published in English that reported on the risk of dying after developing COVID-19 for people with a pre-existing diagnosis of any cancer, lung cancer, or haematological cancers. We assessed risk of bias using tools adapted from the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. We used the generic inverse-variance random-effects method for meta-analysis. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated separately. Of 96 included studies, 54 had sufficient non-overlapping data to be included in meta-analyses (>500,000 people with COVID-19, >8000 with cancer; 52 studies of any cancer, three of lung and six of haematological cancers). All studies had high risk of bias. Accounting for at least age consistently led to lower estimated ORs and HRs for COVID-19-related death in cancer patients (e.g. any cancer versus no cancer; six studies, unadjusted OR=3.30,95%CI:2.59-4.20, adjusted OR=1.37,95%CI:1.16-1.61). Adjusted effect estimates were not reported for people with lung or haematological cancers. Of 18 studies that adjusted for at least age, 17 reported positive associations between pre-existing cancer diagnosis and COVID-19-related death (e.g. any cancer versus no cancer; nine studies, adjusted OR=1.66,95%CI:1.33-2.08; five studies, adjusted HR=1.19,95%CI:1.02-1.38).

conclusionsThe initial evidence (published to 1 July 2020) on COVID-19-related death in people with cancer is characterised by multiple sources of bias and substantial overlap between data included in different studies. Pooled analyses of non-overlapping early data with adjustment for at least age indicated a significantly increased risk of COVID-19-related death for those with a pre-existing cancer diagnosis.

Indexed as

COVID-19Hematologic NeoplasmsNeoplasmsAdolescentCohort StudiesHumansLungCOVID-19MortalityNeoplasmsSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID35680113
PMCPMC9169424

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.