Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 RNA Virus Shedding and Lymphopenia Are Hallmarks of COVID-19 in Cancer Patients with Poor Prognosis

When comparing nasopharyngeal swabs from cancer and noncancer patients for RT-qPCR cycle thresholds measuring acute respiratory SARS-CoV-2 in 1063 patients, researchers found that malignant disease favored the magnitude and duration of viral RNA shedding concomitant with prolonged serum elevations of type 1 IFN that anticorrelated with anti-RBD IgG antibodies.