Times to Diagnosis, Staging, and Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer Before and During COVID-19
Objective The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has reduced the demand for, and supply of, head and neck cancer services. This study compares the times to diagnosis, staging, and treatment of head and neck cancers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Design Retrospective cohort...
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Published in | OTO open : the official open access journal of the American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Vol. 5; no. 4; pp. 2473974X211059429 - n/a |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Los Angeles, CA
SAGE Publications
01.10.2021
John Wiley & Sons, Inc Wiley |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Objective
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has reduced the demand for, and supply of, head and neck cancer services. This study compares the times to diagnosis, staging, and treatment of head and neck cancers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Study Design
Retrospective cohort study.
Setting
Tertiary academic medical center in New York City (NYC).
Methods
The times to diagnosis, staging, and treatment of head and neck cancer for patients presenting to the clinics of 4 head and neck oncology surgeons with newly diagnosed head and neck cancers were compared between pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods.
Results
Sixty-eight patients in the pre–COVID-19 period and 26 patients in the COVID-19 period presented with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer. Patients in the COVID-19 group had a significantly longer time to diagnosis than the pre–COVID-19 group after adjustment for age and cancer diagnosis (P = .02; hazard ratio [HR], 0.54; 95% CI, 0.32-0.92). Patients in the pre–COVID-19 and COVID-19 groups had no statistically significant differences in time to staging (P > .9; HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.58-1.74) or time to treatment (P = .12; HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.89-2.72).
Conclusion
This study found that time to diagnosis for head and neck cancers was delayed during a COVID-19 period compared to a pre–COVID-19 period. However, there was no evidence of delays in time to staging and time to treatment during the COVID-19 period. Our results prompt further investigations into the factors contributing to diagnostic delays but provide reassurance that despite COVID-19, patients were receiving timely staging and treatment for head and neck cancers. |
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Bibliography: | This article was presented virtually as a poster presentation at the American Head & Neck Society 10th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer, July 22‐25, 2021. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2473-974X 2473-974X |
DOI: | 10.1177/2473974X211059429 |