CANCER, COVID-19 VIRUS A DEADLY MIX, STUDIES SHOW

New studies have shown that the COVID-19 virus is potentially deadly for current and former cancer patients.

In a story written by Marilynn Marchione for the Associated Press (AP) on May 28, 2020, she said two studies have found out that cancer patients or ex-cancer patients infected with COVID-19 were much more likely to die within a month than people without cancer who got it. They are the largest reports on people with both diseases in the US, the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada. In one study, half of 928 current and former cancer patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 13% died. That’s far more than the various rates that have been reported in the general population, Marchione noted. The results were published Thursday in the journal Lancet and will be discussed this weekend at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference being held online because of the pandemic. A second study in Lancet from researchers in England of 800 patients with various types of cancer and COVID-19 found an even higher death rate — 28%. The risk rose with age and other health problems such as high blood pressure. The studies have big implications: More than 1.6 million new cancers are diagnosed in the US each year, several million Americans are in treatment now and about 20 million are cancer survivors. #COVID19