The COVID-19 virus can promote tumor or cancer development by affecting certain signaling pathways.
We are just beginning to discover the vast scope of the many persisting effects of COVID-19 infection. Recent research has revealed that patients who were severely ill and hospitalized after contracting the virus have an increased risk of developing cancer. At the same time, both the public and some experts are concerned about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing severe complications.
In May 2023, researchers from the University of Geneva’s Institute of Global Health, the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products, and other research institutions published a study in the journal Scientific Reports.
The researchers, using France’s National Health Data System, analyzed cancer incidence among two groups—one consisting of 41,302 hospitalized patients due to severe COVID-19 infection between February 2020 and August 2021, and the other comprising 713,670 individuals who were not hospitalized due to infection as the control group. The two groups were matched in terms of gender, age, and geographic location.
The study showed that patients hospitalized due to severe COVID-19 infection had a 31 percent increased risk of developing cancer compared to the control group. Additionally, during the first three months following hospitalization, the risk of cancer among patients with COVID-19 was notably higher, with a 65 percent increase compared to the control group.
Severely ill patients experienced a notable increase in the risk of renal cancer by 216 percent, colon cancer by 72 percent, and lung cancer by 70 percent.
Furthermore, severely ill patients face a significantly increased risk of developing blood-related cancers, with a 228 percent increase in leukemia, a 121 percent increase in multiple myeloma, and a 115 percent increase in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The researchers conducted a further analysis based on age and gender, revealing that severe COVID-19 cases often indicate a higher cancer risk for women and individuals under the age of 60. After contracting COVID-19 and experiencing severe symptoms, the cancer risk increased by 69 percent for women and 20 percent for men. Additionally, the cancer risk rose by 78 percent for those under 60 and 22 percent for those aged 60 and above. Notably, for women under the age of 60, severe symptoms following infection resulted in a significant 115 percent increase in cancer risk.
The study did not establish a causal relationship between cancer and severe COVID-19 infection, but researchers believe that severe symptoms after contracting COVID-19 may be a marker of undiagnosed cancer.
By Ellen Wan
