E-Mail ATLANTA - FEBRUARY 3, 2021 - New study finds more than half (56.4%) of cancer survivors in the United States reported having additional underlying medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19 illness. The report appearing in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggests that prevalence of these conditions among cancer survivors is nearly 40% higher than that in the general population. Cancer, and other underlying medical conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart diseases, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and obesity, are associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 illness. For this study, investigators Changchuan (Charles) Jiang, MD, PhD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Xuesong Han, PhD, American Cancer Society, and colleagues used data from the 2016-2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a national cross-sectional survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population, to examine the prevalence of underlying medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19 Illness in adult cancer survivors in the U.S.