Risk of SARS CoV 2 infection and outcome after infection: Experience from the day care unit at CHU Liège in Belgium

Background: No specific safety data concerning systemic oncological treatments were available at time of COVID-19 outbreak in Belgium In our hospital we decided to maintain adjuvant and early line treatments for metastatic disease in patients under 65 and without specific comorbidities and to apply a shared decision approach in other patients while following closely the safety of these treatments Methods: Real time safety monitoring was proposed to all patients treated for solid tumours in our day-care unit starting March 1st, 2020 After signing informed consent patients were asked questions concerning protective measures at home, signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalisation Patients\u0027 charts were reviewed for outcome, including death, after suspected or proven SARS-CoV-2 infection Minimum follow-up was 5 weeks after day care unit attendance Results: 387 patients were included in our registry between March 1st and March 31st, 2020 Median age was 64 years-old (range 27-90) Most patients suffered from lung (n=96), breast (n=93), gastrointestinal (n=87), gynaecological (n=38) or urological (n=33) cancers 131 patients received (neo)adjuvant treatments, 256 patients were treated for metastatic disease Patients received chemotherapy (n=170), immunotherapy (n=103), targeted therapy (n=68) or other combinations (n=46) Although Belgium had one of the highest infection rates in the world, safety data concerning risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and outcomes were rather reassuring A total of 11 patients had either suspected (n=5, 1 3%) or proven (n=6, 1 6%) SARS-CoV-2 infection Only one 74 years old patient died of COVID-19, another 51 years old patient died of progressive disease but presented also suspicion of SARS-CoV-2 infection at the time of death Conclusions: Analysis of our data for patients treated in March 2020 in the day-care unit are reassuring and suggest higher risk related to under-treatment compared to risk related to continuation of systemic therapy at time of COVID-19 outbreak Patients\u0027 follow-up will be updated and additional analyses and data in particular for April 2020, when the infection rate was still extremely high in Belgium, will be presented Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors Funding: Fondation Leon Fredericq Disclosure: A Rorive: Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: BMS;MSD B Sautois: Advisory/Consultancy, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Janssen;Advisory/Consultancy: Clovis;Sanofi;Astellas J Collignon: Advisory/Consultancy, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Roche;Amgen;Pfizer;Advisory/Consultancy: Servier;Bayer;Merck;Lilly;Sanofi;Sirtex;Celgene;Ipsen;Novartis P Freres: Advisory/Consultancy: Ipsen;Merck;BMS C Gennigens: Advisory/Consultancy, Research grant/Funding (institution): Astra-Zeneca;Advisory/Consultancy: BMS;GSK;Lilly;MSD;Advisory/Consultancy, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Ipsen;Pfizer;Pharmamar;Roche G Jerusalem: Advisory/Consultancy, Research grant/Funding (institution), Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Novartis;Roche;Pfizer;Speaker Bureau/Expert testimony, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Lilly;Advisory/Consultancy, Research grant/Funding (institution): Amgen;Advisory/Consultancy, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: BMS;AstraZeneca;Daiichi Sankyo;Advisory/Consultancy: Abbvie;Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Medimmune;MerckKGaA All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest