Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a newly erupted respiratory infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has swept across the most of countries. The laboratory characteristics of COVID-patients accompanied with cancer and the risk factors for disease progression and survival of this particular population were few reported. Methods: We enrolled 585 confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to our hospitals with measured interleukin-6 level on admission. Laboratory tests and outcome were extracted from electronic medical records. Data was divided to cancer group and non-cancer group to explorer the risk factors of progression and survival. Findings: A total of 44 patients with different cancer type (cancer group) and 487 patients without cancer (non-cancer group) were included. Cancer group had significant higher levels of NEUT, NLR, IL-6, and CRP than non-cancer group, but lymphocyte count and ALB were lower. Cancer group showed significantly higher progression rate (42·1% vs 22·5%) and mortality (27·27% vs 11·91%) than non-cancer group. Elevated IL-6 and CRP were the risk factors associated with progression among moderate patients and death in-hospital (all p<0·05) in non- cancer group. This correlation was not observed in caner group. Interpretation: IL-6, CRP, NEUT, and NLR were elevated in COVID-19 patients with cancer, with lower level of LYMP and ALB. IL-6 and CRP were positively correlated with progression and poor outcome in patients without cancer. As one of combined diseases, despite malignancy history did not directly affect the prognosis of COVID-19, but it could play a role in the poorer outcome through release of IL-6 and CRP.