A. Rodríguez (Barcelona, Spain)

Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

Author Of 1 Presentation

 On-Demand ePoster Display

177P - COVID-19 pandemic impact in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients BCP at a 3rd level hospital

Abstract

Background

On March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Worldwide, health authorities recommended limiting elective surgeries, diagnostic procedures and non-urgent face-to-face consultations. The full range of consequences of these restrictive measures in cancer diagnosis has not yet been well documented in Spain. Here, we report the impact of these disruptions in the diagnosis of breast cancer at our institution.

Methods

We performed a retrospective study comparing new breast cancer diagnosis at the medical oncology department in a tertiary center in 2019 and 2020. Data corresponding to clinical-pathological features at diagnosis was collected from clinical records. Categorical variables were compared using the Fisher’s exact test and chi-square. Normally-distributed continuous variables were compared using two sample-t-tests. P values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results

In 2020, there were 210 new BCP, which represent a 26% decrease compared to 2019 (n=285). The overall number of screening mamograms (SM) decreased from 13041 in 2019 to 8239 in 2020 (37%), resulting in 46% fewer new diagnosis in this group (57 in 2019 vs 31 in 2020). Diagnoses made after referral from other hospital services were also reduced (40 in 2019 vs 23 in 2020, 42% reduction). Smaller reductions were observed in new breast cancer patients referred from other hospitals (19%) and from primary care centers (13%). Diagnoses at stage I, were significantly reduced by 47% (n=135 in 2019 vs n=71 in 2020) and in stage II by 18% (n=108 in 2019 vs n=89 in 2020). Stage III diagnoses were increased by 30% (n=23 in 2019 vs n=30 in 2020) and in stage IV by 11%, although the absolute number of patients was similar in both subgroups (n=18 in 2019 vs n=20 in 2020) (p=0.0068).

Conclusions

Suspension of SM and limited outpatient consultations have contributed to diagnostic delays. Accordingly, higher proportion of patients presented with locally advanced disease. These delays are expected to have an impact in breast cancer specific survival in the coming years. Therefore, our findings should bring awareness about the importance of defining measures to prevent COVID pandemic impact on other diseases.

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

M. Vidal: Honoraria (self), Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Pfizer; Honoraria (self), Advisory/Consultancy: Novartis; Honoraria (self), Advisory/Consultancy, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Roche; Honoraria (self): Daiichi Sankyo. N. Chic: Speaker Bureau/Expert testimony, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Eisai; Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Novartis; Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Pierre Fabre. O. Martínez-Sáez: Speaker Bureau/Expert testimony: Eisai; Advisory/Consultancy, Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Roche. R. Moreno: Speaker Bureau/Expert testimony: Eisai. A. Prat: Honoraria (self), Advisory/Consultancy: Pfizer; Honoraria (self), Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Daiichi Sankyo; Honoraria (self), Advisory/Consultancy, Research grant/Funding (institution): Roche; Honoraria (self), Advisory/Consultancy, Research grant/Funding (institution): Novartis; Honoraria (self): MSD Oncology; Honoraria (self): Lilly; Advisory/Consultancy: NanoString Technologies; Advisory/Consultancy: Amgen; Advisory/Consultancy: Bristol-Meyers Squib. M. Muñoz: Honoraria (self), Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Roche; Honoraria (self): Novartis; Honoraria (self): Pierre Fabre; Honoraria (self): Eisai; Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Lilly. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

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