The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lung cancer diagnosis

Year 2023, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 40 - 50, 30.04.2023

Füsun Fakılı , Nur Öztürk

https://doi.org/10.36516/jocass.1222622

Abstract

Objective: Hospital admissions have been affected by lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lung cancer diagnosis process.
Methods: Patients who attended our clinic after the first official case of COVID-19 in Turkey were diagnosed with new lung cancer via bronchoscopy and/or endobronchial ultrasound, and were diagnosed during the fifteen months preceding the COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: A total of 336 lung cancer patients with a mean age of 64.4±8.9 years, 89.6% male, 197 pre-pandemic, and 139 during the pandemic were included in the study. In this study, 17.6% of the patients applied to the hospital during the lockdown. During the pandemic, the median age of patients was younger, the smoking rate was higher, the rate of admissions with cough was lower (p=0.010), the hemoptysis rate was higher (p=0.012), T stage (p=0.008) increased, and N stage (p=0.001) decreased in newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. There was no significant difference in lung cancer staging between the groups in lockdown. There was no significant difference in metastatic rates between the pandemic and pre-pandemic groups. During the pandemic, the rate of comorbidities decreased in lung cancer patients. The rate of cancer surgery did not change, but the rate of chemotherapy decreased during the pandemic.
Conclusions: The number of newly diagnosed lung cancer cases decreased, and stages changed during the pandemic. Lung cancer diagnosis delays and disease burden are expected to rise in the future.

Keywords

COVID-19, Lung cancer, Lung cancer staging, Hospital administration, Pandemic

Supporting Institution

Yok

Project Number

Yok

Thanks

We thank Prof. Dr. Seval Kul for the statistical assistance of the research.

COVID-19 pandemisinin akciğer kanseri teşhisine etkisi

Abstract

Amaç: Akciğer kanseri, dünyada bildirilen en yüksek kanser ölüm oranına sahiptir. Hastane başvuruları, COVID-19 pandemisi sırasında sokağa çıkma kısıtlamalarından etkilenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, COVID-19 pandemisinin akciğer kanseri tanı sürecine etkisini araştırmaktır.
Yöntemler: Türkiye'deki ilk resmi COVID-19 vakasının ardından kliniğimize başvuran ve bronkoskopi ve/veya endobronşiyal ultrason ile yeni akciğer kanseri tanısı konulan ve COVID-19 pandemisinden önceki on dört ay içinde tanı konulan hastalar geriye dönük olarak incelendi.
Bulgular: Çalışmaya yaş ortalaması 64,4 ± 8,9 yıl, %89,6'sı erkek, 197 pandemi öncesi ve 139'u pandemi sırasında olan toplam 336 yeni akciğer kanseri hastası dahil edildi. Bu çalışmada, hastaların %17,6'sı karantina kapanmaları sırasında hastaneye başvurmuştur. Pandemi sırasında yeni tanı almış akciğer kanseri hastalarının ortanca yaşı daha genç, sigara içme oranı daha yüksek, öksürük ile başvuru oranı daha düşük (p=0.010), hemoptizi oranı daha yüksek (p=0.012), T evresi (p=0.008) artmış ve N evresi (p=0,001) N evresi azalmıştı. Karantinada gruplar arasında akciğer kanseri evrelemesi açısından anlamlı bir fark yoktu. Pandemi ve pandemi öncesi gruplar arasında metastaz oranlarında anlamlı bir fark yoktu. Pandemi sırasında akciğer kanseri hastalarında komorbidite oranı azaldı, kanser cerrahisi oranı değişmedi ancak kemoterapi oranı azaldı.
Sonuç: Pandemi sırasında yeni teşhis edilen akciğer kanseri vakalarının sayısı azaldı. Pandemi sırasında T ve N evreleri değişti. Akciğer kanseri için hastalık yükü ve tanı gecikmelerinin gelecekte artması beklenmektedir.

Keywords

COVID-19,, Akciğer Kanseri, Akciğer kanseri evrelemesi, Hastane yönetimi, Pandemi

Project Number

Yok

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