Incidence, Risk Factors and Mortality of COVID-19 among Cancer Patients: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Cancer is among the fatal diseases caused by abnormal cell growth from one organ that can invade and destroy adjacent organs. These abnormally growing cells are caused by defects in the gene sequence of the living organisms. These unregulated, proliferating cells exceed their normal boundaries to infiltrate adjacent bodily tissues and/or move to other organs. Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, responsible for more than 10 million deaths in 2020 alone. Cancer is the second most common non-communicable disease to cause death. Currently, the health systems around the world are facing a huge challenge in finding a proper cure for cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in China, followed by liver cancer, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, and cardiovascular disorders, which together account for 43% of all deaths. Currently; the health system is facing huge challenge on the proper cure for cancer. This is because cancer is not one disease but many disorders that share a profound growth dysregulation of cells. The peculiar traits of cancer, including altered cellular metabolism, unlimited capacity for replication, sustained angiogenesis, the ability to invade and metastasize, the ability to evade apoptosis, self-sufficiency in growth signals, evasion of immune surveillance, and insensitivity to growth-inhibitory signals, are to chastise for this growth dysregulation. Due to their poor general health, concurrent illnesses, a systemic immunosuppressive condition brought on by cancer itself, and some drugs as conventional immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) used to treat cancer, cancer patients are more vulnerable to different infectious diseases. Hence, cancer patients are more vulnerable to coronavirus infection. The main goal of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of COVID-19 incidence, risk factors, and mortality among diverse cancer patients. We narrowed our attention to both inpatients and outpatients with Covid-19 symptoms du