Clinical Outcome and Characteristics of Turkish Breast Cancer Patients who had SARS-Cov-2 Infection

Abstract

OBJECTIVE COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented burden on health-care system. Patients with cancer are reported to have a higher risk of infection and a more complicated COVID-19 course. Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in women in Turkey. We report clinical outcomes and characteristics of patients with COVID-19 who were on treatment for BC at our center. METHODS We reviewed medical records of BC patients who had COVID-19 between July 2020 and 2021 at our center. We recorded pathological, clinical, treatment characteristics, and the clinical outcome of COVID-19 infection. RESULTS A total 82 BC patients had COVID-19 between July 2020 and 2021. All patients were female, with a median age of 49 (43-64 years). 85\% of all patients had early and 14.6\% of them had advanced stage BC. COVID-19 had a mild clinical course in 73\%, hospitalization was required in 27\% of patients. Twenty-five patients who required hospitalization were discharged and three patients died due to COVID-19. All of the patients who died from COVID-19 had metastatic BC (p=0.002). Metastatic disease (p=0.002) and chemotherapy within 7 days of COVID-19 diagnosis (p=0.024) have been associated with increased mortality. CONCLUSION Majority of BC patients with COVID-19 have a mild course, patients with risk factors that increase mortality should be followed more carefully.