ASH 2021 | COVID-19 risk factors in patients with hematologic malignancies

Lisa Hicks, MD, MSc, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada, discusses the risk factors associated with hospitalization and mortality from COVID-19 in patients with hematologic malignancies. 1029 patients with a malignant diagnosis from the ASH Research Collaborative (RC) COVID-19 Registry for Hematology were included in the analysis, with the median age category being 50-59 years old. In the chosen cohort, 34% had acute leukemia/myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), 25% had lymphoma, 20% had plasma cell dyscrasia, 11% had CLL, and 10% had a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). Patients overall with blood cancer who male, over 60 years of age, a pre-COVID-19 prognosis of less than 6 months, and an ICR deferral were found to have an increased mortality risk from COVID-19. However, patients with a MPN or plasma cell dyscrasia were found to have a decreased hospitalization risk compared to other hematologic malignancies including leukemia and lymphoma. There was additionally no statistically significant link between receiving cancer treatment a year before COVID-19 diagnosis and increased risk of mortality as result of COVID-19. This press briefing was recorded at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2021 Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta, GA.