The COVID-19 pandemic has represented a major cause of morbidity/mortality worldwide, overstressing health systems. Patients with ovarian cancer (OC) have been affected by a delay in diagnosis, surgery, and chemotherapy treatment (Jacome LS et al. Cancer Manag Res. 2021).
Here we have obtained a comprehensive overview of the impact of COVID-19 in patients with OC on a global scale using a federated data research network (TriNetX) that provided access to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) from Health Care Organizations (HCOs) all over the world. Descriptive statistics were used, and survival analyses were conducted using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Through propensity score matched analyses of 74 global HCOs from 14 countries[AM1] we found that the number of new diagnoses of OC was reduced between the period from March 2020 to March 2021 (n=10.453) compared to 1-year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (n=11.449), RR 0.91 [95%CI 0.88–0.9], p< 0.0001. SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with OC treated with chemotherapy (n=710) was associated with worse overall survival than in patients without chemotherapy (n=1.770), HR 0.33 [95%CI 0.23-0.48], p< 0.0001.The risk of inpatient hospitalisation due to COVID-19 infection was higher in patients receiving chemotherapy vs no chemotherapy, RR 0.50 [95%CI 0.43-0.59], p < 0.0001. Overall, there was a very low rate of invasive mechanical ventilation utilization, with no differences in its use detected between those patients undergoing chemotherapy (n=24) and those who did not (n=18), RR 0.75 [95%CI 0.41-1.37), p=0.347.
This study highlights the necessity of extending preventive measures worldwide to protect vulnerable OC patients from SARSCoV-2 infection and promote intensive vaccination strategies.
The authors.
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All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.