Cancer patients are presumed to be at increased risk from COVID-19 infection fatality due to underlying malignancy, treatment-related immunosuppression, or increased comorbidities. A total of 218 COVID-19 positive patients from March 18th-April 8th, 2020 with a malignant diagnosis were identified. A total of 61 (28%) cancer patients died from COVID-19 with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 37% (20/54) for hematologic malignancies and 25% (41/164) for solid malignancies. 6/11 (55%) lung cancer patients died from COVID-19 disease. Increased mortality was significantly associated with older age, multiple comorbidities, need for ICU support, and elevated levels of D-Dimers, LDH and lactate on multivariable analysis. Ageadjusted CFRs in cancer patients compared to non-cancer patients at our institution and NYC reported a significant increase in case fatality for cancer patients. These data suggest the need for proactive strategies to reduce likelihood of infection and improve early identification in this vulnerable patient population.Research.on June 9, 2020.

Erlotinib was active and well tolerated in this patient population, and further clinical development is clearly warranted. Cutaneous rash seems to be a surrogate marker of clinical benefit, but this finding should be confirmed in ongoing and future studies.