In December 2019, an outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred in Wuhan, Hubei, which has been linked to the severe adult respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is characterized by rapid human-to-human transmission from droplet contamination.^1,2 A report of 138 hospitalized patients from a single institution (Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University) indicated that hospital-acquired transmission accounted for 41.3% of these admitted patients, thus implicating the hospital environment as a source of spread of the virus.³ Patients with cancer are often recalled to the hospital for treatment and monitoring, and hence, they may be at risk of contracting COVID-19. Moreover, cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are immunosuppressive. Here, we report the incidence and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients who were treated at a tertiary cancer institution in Wuhan.

We reviewed the medical records, including demographic, clinical, and treatment data of 1524 patients with cancer who were admitted to the Department of Radiation and Medical Oncology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, from December 30, 2019, to February 17, 2020 (data cutoff date). COVID-19 pneumonia was diagnosed based on the updated COVID-19 Diagnostic Criteria, 5th Edition (Supplement). Outcomes of COVID-19 among patients with cancer were reported.

This retrospective study was approved by the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University ethics committee (2020039). Waiver of informed consent was approved for the aggregated data; verbal informed consent was obtained from the living patients with COVID-19.