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© J A X1 02 89 / SH U TT ER ST O C K .C O M B lack and Hispanic patients with cancer were more likely than White patients with cancer to be infected with COVID-19, according to a study presented at the virtual American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2020 Quality Care Symposium in October 2020. Researchers analyzed data from ASCO’s CancerLinQ Discovery database, examining the records of 477,613 patients with cancer from the beginning of January through the end of August 2020. They found that Black patients with cancer were almost twice as likely (relative risk 1.69) and Hispanic patients with cancer were more than 5 times as likely (relative risk 5.25) to test positive for COVID-19 when compared to White patients with cancer. Furthermore, patients who had hematologic cancers were 1.36 times more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than those with solid tumors. The reason may be that patients who have hematologic cancers often have more compromised immune systems and are already susceptible to many other infections. The CancerLinQ database is a real-world oncology data platform that collects and aggregates longitudinal electronic health record data from some 2 million patients from oncology practices across the country. The platform securely compiles, analyzes, and de-identifies extensive data on patient characteristics (such as molecular profiles and comorbidities), treatments, and side effects. Principal investigator Danielle Potter, PhD, who leads realworld evidence at CancerLinQ, notes that while the research is preliminary, it will give both patients and providers a better awareness of who is most at risk for COVID-19. The authors plan to continue assessing data and examining other risk factors, such as stage at diagnosis, presence of specific malignancies, and types of cancer treatment, to determine whether they are related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They also plan to examine more specific risk factors associated with COVID-19 mortality.