Clinical Characteristics, Management, and Outcomes of Cancer Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Admitted to the ICU

Adult patients with cancer have a greater likelihood of developing severe illness and death from coronavirus disease 2019 compared with patients without cancer. We sought to characterize the clinical characteristics and outcomes of cancer patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and were admitted to the ICU at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in the United States. DESIGN: A single-center retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Two medical-surgical ICUs of a tertiary-care cancer center. PATIENTS/SUBJECTS: All consecutive adult patients (≥ 18 yr) with current or past (< 2 yr) diagnosis of cancer who were admitted to the ICU with coronavirus disease 2019 between March 1, and June 30, 2020. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data of 89 critically ill cancer patients were extracted from electronic medical records. Median age was 65 years (interquartile range, 57–70 yr), 66% were White, and 58% male. Approximately a third of patients had three or more comorbidities. Fifty-one patients (57%) had solid tumors, and 38 (42%) had hematologic malignancies. Sixty-one patients (69%) received cancer-directed therapy within the previous 90 days. Sixty patients (67%) required mechanical ventilation, 56% required prone positioning, 28% underwent tracheostomy, and 71% required vasopressors. Hospital mortality was 45% (40/89). Among those who required mechanical ventilation, mortality was 53% (32/60). Hospital mortality was significantly higher among patients with hematologic malignancies, higher severity of illness and organ failure scores, need for invasive mechanical ventilation and vasopressor therapy, lower hemoglobin and platelet count, and higher d-dimer levels at ICU admission. ICU and hospital length of stay were 10 and 26 days, respectively. At 9-month follow-up, the mortality rate was 54% (48/89). CONCLUSIONS: We report the largest case series and intermediate-term follow-up of cancer patients with coronavirus disease 2019 who were admitted to the ICU. Hospital mortality was 45%. Intermediate-term outcome after hospital discharge was favorable.