Analysis the susceptibility of lung cancer patients to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Abstract Recent studies have reported that 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients with lung cancer have a higher risk of severe events than patients without cancer. In this study, we investigated the expression of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SAR-CoV-2) receptor angiotensin I-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and the cellular protease transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) and their associations with prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). We found that there are significant differences in susceptibility to SAR-CoV-2 among each age stages of individuals with the expression of ACE2. ACE2 was also high expressed in LUAD and LUSC, and this suggests that COVID-19 patients with lung cancers are susceptible to SAR-CoV-2 infection. Our data showed the differential gene expression level and gene coexpression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 among each subtypes and pathological stages of LUAD and LUSC and the data were verified by meta-analysis, gene expression omnibus (GEO) data and animal models results.