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Kulkarni et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2021;7:31 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2021.36
Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

Mortality from COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer

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Amit A. Kulkarni , Grace Wilson , Naomi Fujioka , Manish R. Patel 1
1
Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
55455, USA.
2
University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Correspondence to: Assist. Prof. Amit A. Kulkarni M.D., Division of Hematology, Oncology, Transplant, University of Minnesota,
420 Delaware St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. E-mail: kulkarni@umn.edu
How to cite this article: Kulkarni AA, Wilson G, Fujioka N, Patel MR. Mortality from COVID-19 in patients with lung cancer. J
Cancer Metastasis Treat 2021;7:31. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2021.36

Received: 5 Feb 2021 First Decision: 13 Apr 2021 Revised: 6 May 2021 Accepted: 19 May 2021 Published: 11 Jun 2021

Academic Editor: Lucio Miele Copy Editor: Yue-Yue Zhang Production Editor: Yue-Yue Zhang

Abstract
The World Health Organization declared coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) linked to the severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), a global pandemic in March 2020. The pandemic outbreak has led to
the most unprecedented and catastrophic loss of human life in the recent history. As of January 2021, there were
more than 100 million cases of COVID-19 and more than two million deaths worldwide. Compared to the general
population, patients with cancer are at a higher risk of poor outcomes from COVID-19. In large cohort studies,
mortality from COVID-19 in patients with cancer can be as high as 40%. In addition to clinical variables (older age,
male sex, and co-morbidities) that are associated with mortality in general population, cancer patients are uniquely
vulnerable to severe COVID-19 due to immunosuppression from cancer and its therapy, and disruption of routine
clinical care. Among patients with cancer, the lung cancer population is at a higher risk of poor outcomes and
mortality from COVID-19 for several reasons. For instance, lung is the main target organ in COVID-19 that can lead
to respiratory failure, patients with lung cancer have baseline poor lung function from chronic obstructive
pulmonary disorder and smoking. In addition, some of the lung cancer treatment side-effects like pneumonitis, may
obscure the diagnosis of COVID-19. In this article, we systematically review the most impactful cohort studies
published to date in patients with cancer and COVID-19. We describe the rates of mortality in patients with cancer
and COVID-19 with a special focus on the lung cancer population. We also summarize the factors associated with
poor outcomes and mortality in patients with lung cancer and COVID-19.
Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19, lung cancer, mortality

© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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