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Delay in breast cancer diagnosis and its clinical consequences during the coronavirus disease pandemic
Author(s) -
Koca Bulent,
Yildirim Murat
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of surgical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.201
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1096-9098
pISSN - 0022-4790
DOI - 10.1002/jso.26581
Subject(s) - medicine , breast cancer , context (archaeology) , sentinel lymph node , chemotherapy , oncology , mastectomy , lymph node , cancer , neoadjuvant therapy , disease , modified radical mastectomy , surgery , paleontology , biology
Objective At the end of 1 year of the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic, we aimed to reveal the changes in breast cancer cases in the context of cause and effect based on the data of surgically treated patients in our institution. Patients and Methods Patients with breast cancer were divided into two groups. Group 1 consisted of patients who were operated in the year before the COVID‐19 pandemic, and Group 2 consisted of patients who were operated within the first year of the pandemic. Tumor size, axillary lymph node positivity, distant organ metastasis status, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and type of surgery performed were compared between the two groups. Results The tumor size, axillary lymph node positivity, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy were higher in Group 2 than in Group 1 ( p = .005, p = .012, p = .042, respectively). In addition, the number of breast‐conserving surgery + sentinel lymph node biopsy were lower, while the number of mastectomy and modified radical mastectomy were higher in Group 2 than in Group 1 ( p = .034). Conclusion Patients presented with larger breast tumors and increased axillary involvement during the pandemic. Moreover, distant organ metastases may increase in the future.