COVID-19 and Cancer: Discovery of Difference in Clinical Immune Indexes.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored the consistency and differences in the immune cells and cytokines between patients with COVID-19 or cancer. We further analyzed the correlations between the acute inflammation and cancer-related immune disorder.

METHODS

This retrospective study involved 167 COVID-19 patients and 218 cancer patients. COVID-19 and cancer were each further divided into two subgroups. Quantitative and qualitative variables were measured by one-way ANOVA and chi-square test, respectively. Herein, we carried out a correlation analysis between immune cells and cytokines and used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to discover the optimal diagnostic index.

RESULTS

COVID-19 and cancers were associated with lymphopenia and high levels of monocytes, neutrophils, IL-6, and IL-10. IL-2 was the optimal indicator to differentiate the two diseases. Compared with respiratory cancer patients, COVID-19 patients had lower levels of IL-2 and higher levels of CD3CD4 T cells and CD19 B cells. In the subgroup analysis, IL-6 was the optimal differential diagnostic parameter that had the ability to identify if COVID-19 patients would be severely affected, and severe COVID-19 patients had lower levels of lymphocyte subsets (CD3 T cells, CD3CD4 T cells, CD3CD8T cells, and CD19 B cells) and CD16CD56 NK cells and higher level of neutrophils. There were significant differences in the levels of CD3CD4 T cells and CD19 B cells between T and T stages as well as IL-2 and CD19 B cells between N and N stages while no significant differences between the metastatic and nonmetastatic cancer patients. Additionally, there were higher correlations between IL-2 and IL-4, TNF- and IL-2, TNF- and IL-4, TNF- and IFN-, and CD16CD56NK cells and various subsets of T cells in COVID-19 patients. There was a higher correlation between CD3CD4 T cells and CD19 B cells in cancer patients.

CONCLUSION

Inflammation associated with COVID-19 or cancer had effects on patients' outcomes. Accompanied by changes in immune cells and cytokines, there were consistencies, differences, and satisfactory correlations between patients with COVID-19 and those with cancers.