More than half of children and adolescents receiving active oncologic treatment had modifications to cancer-directed therapy<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
TUESDAY, Sept. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Almost one-fifth of children with cancer and COVID-19 have severe and critical illness and 3.8 percent die, according to a study published online Aug. 26 in The Lancet Oncology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sheena Mukkada, M.D., from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and colleagues conducted a cohort study with data from 131 institutions in 45 countries to create a Global Registry of COVID-19 in Childhood Cancer for children and adolescents (<19 years).<\/p>\n The researchers found that 19.9 percent of 1,301 patients had a severe or critical infection and 3.8 percent of 1,319 died with the cause attributed to COVID-19. Overall, 55.8 percent of 1,092 patients receiving active oncologic treatment had modifications to cancer-directed therapy. Factors associated with severe or critical illness included World Bank low-income or lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income country status (odds ratios, 5.8 and 1.6, respectively), age 15 to 18 years, absolute lymphocyte count of 300 or less cells per mm3<\/sup>, absolute neutrophil count of 500 or less cells per mm3<\/sup>, and intensive treatment (odds ratios, 1.6, 2.5, 1.8, and 1.8, respectively). Upper-middle-income country status, a primary diagnosis of hematologic malignancy, presence of at least one COVID-19 symptom, and presence of one or more comorbidities were associated with treatment modification (odds ratios, 0.5, 0.5, 1.8, and 1.6, respectively).<\/p>\n “The results are reassuring that many children can continue their cancer treatment safely, but they also highlight important clinical features that may predict a more severe clinical course and the need for greater vigilance for some patients,” a coauthor said in a statement.<\/p>\n One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n