The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Northern Portugal

Data de publicação:

Autores da FMUP

  • Filipa Ferreira Maia Fontes

    Autor

  • Nuno Miguel De Sousa Lunet

    Autor

Participantes de fora da FMUP

  • Morais, S
  • Antunes, Lu?s
  • Rodrigues, J
  • Bento, MJ

Unidades de investigação

Abstract

Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the availability of healthcare resources, and adjustments to cancer care have been necessary considering the risk of morbidity by COVID-19 and of cancer progression. This study aims to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of patients with cancer by comparing a period of 4 months after the outbreak began (2 March 2020) with an equal period from 2019. Methods Cancer cases of the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum, pancreas, lung, skin-melanoma, breast, cervix, prostate, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and leukemia from the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, and diagnosed between 2 March and 1 July 2019 (before COVID-19) and 2020 (after COVID-19) were identified. Those with the first treatment outside the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto were excluded. Sociodemographic, clinical and treatment characteristics were obtained from the cancer registry database and clinical files. Results The absolute number of new cancer cases decreased nearly 40% after the COVID-19 pandemic (from 1430 to 866). The largest decreases were observed for cervical (-74.3%) and prostate (-71.7%) cancers. Cases were more often diagnosed at more advanced stages in 2020 (P = 0.001), and the proportion of patients not starting any treatment until 1 July was just under 20% in 2019 and nearly 40% in 2020. The median times from symptoms onset, first medical exam and first appointment to diagnosis, and from diagnosis to first appointment, multidisciplinary tumor board meeting and first treatment were shorter after COVID-19. Conclusions There was a notable overall decrease in cancer diagnoses after COVID-19, with changes in the characteristics of incident cases.

Dados da publicação

ISSN/ISSNe:
1473-5709, 0959-8278

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER PREVENTION  Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd.

Tipo:
Article
Páginas:
204-214
Link para outro recurso:
www.scopus.com

Citações Recebidas na Web of Science: 14

Citações Recebidas na Scopus: 17

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Keywords

  • cancer; COVID-19; Health Services Research; pandemic; treatment

Financiamento

Proyectos asociados

Healthcare use among cancer patients and their partners in different phases of the cancer pathway

Investigador Principal: Nuno Miguel de Sousa Lunet

Estudo Clínico Académico . 2021

Reshaping organized cervical cancer screening: strategies to increase the adherence and reduce invitation costs

Investigador Principal: Nuno Miguel de Sousa Lunet

Estudo Clínico Académico . 2020

Using pooled analyses based on individual participant data for a finer assessment of gastric cancer etiology

Investigador Principal: Nuno Miguel de Sousa Lunet

Estudo Clínico Académico . 2020

RISK AND SURVIVAL OF GASTRIC CANCER RELATES SECOND PRIMARY TUMOURS: A COMPETING RISKS FRAMEWORK

Investigador Principal: Nuno Miguel de Sousa Lunet

Estudo Clínico Académico . 2019

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