Seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in patients with cancer and the impact of anti-tumor treatment on antibodies

Objective The aim of this study was to examine the seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among patients with cancer and followed up changes in SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies to explore the impact of anti-tumor treatment in patients.Methods Patients with cancer who visited the Outpatient Clinic of Oncology,Tongji Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan,China between March 9 and April 30,2020 were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study.SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig) G,IgM,and viral load at various time points during the disease course were determined.Results We examined the serological results of 779 patients with cancer.The overall seroprevalence (IgG-positive or IgM-positive) rate of SARS-CoV-2 was 3.4%.The probability of seropositivity was significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer than in those without gastric cancer (odds ratio:6.349,95% confidence interval:2.191–18.396).Follow-up data showed that SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG levels decreased and the polymerase chain reaction test result remained negative in seropositive patients with cancer.Conclusion This study investigated the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-positive patients with cancer in Wuhan,China.The seropositivity in patients with cancer was lower than or similar to that in the general population.Irrespective of anti-tumor therapy,the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies decreased in these patients.More studies are needed to better understand the impact of anti-tumor therapy on change in the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.