Cancer survivors at risk of worse outcomes

Patients with a history of cancer have a higher prevalence of risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, chronic heart disease and chronic kidney conditions, according to a study.

Welcome to The Medical Republic’s COVID Catch-Up.

It’s the day’s COVID-19 news in one convenient post. Email bianca@biancanogrady.com with any tips, comments or feedback.

2 December

• Cancer survivors may be at risk of worse COVID-19 outcomes, study suggests.
• The latest confirmed COVID-19 infection numbers from around Australia.

• Cancer survivors may be at greater risk of adverse outcomes from COVID-19, say the authors of a study published in eClinical Medicine.
  A matched cohort study using electronic health records from 108,215 cancer survivors and 523,541 individuals with no history of cancer compared risk factors known to be associated with worse COVID-19 outcomes.
  Researchers found that cancer survivors had a higher prevalence of risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, chronic heart disease and chronic kidney conditions compared to controls. They also had a higher risk of being hospitalised with influenza or dying from it – particularly those with haematological cancers.
  Noting that there was a lack of direct evidence of how COVID-19 affected cancer survivors, the study’s authors suggested that cancer survivorship should be considered a risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes.
  “This should be taken into account in public health policies targeted at protecting clinical risk groups,” they wrote.
• Here are the latest confirmed COVID-19 infection numbers from around Australia to 9pm Tuesday:
  National – 27,912 with 908 deaths
  ACT – 117 (0)
  NSW – 4582 (5)
  NT – 53 (0)
  QLD – 1202 (0)
  SA – 562 (0)
  TAS – 230 (0)
  VIC – 20,345 (0)
  WA – 821 (3)