Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cancer-Related Patient Encounters

While there are studies under way to characterize the direct effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of patients with cancer, there have been few quantitative reports of the impact that efforts to control the pandemic have had on the normal course of cancer diagnosis and treatment encounters.

We used the TriNetX platform to analyze 20 health care institutions that have relevant, up-to-date encounter data. Using this COVID and Cancer Research Network (CCRN), we compared cancer cohorts identified by querying encounter data pre-COVID (January 2019-April 2019) and current (January 2020-April 2020). Cohorts were generated for all patients with neoplasms (malignant, benign, in situ, and of unspecified behavior), with new incidence neoplasms (first encounter), with exclusively malignant neoplasms, and with new incidence malignant neoplasms. Data from a UK institution were similarly analyzed. Additional analyses were performed on patients with selected cancers, as well as on those having had cancer screening.

Clear trends were identified that suggest a significant decline in all current cohorts explored, with April 2020 displaying the largest decrease in the number of patients with cancer having encounters. Of the cancer types analyzed, lung, colorectal, and hematologic cancer cohorts exhibited smaller decreases in size in April 2020 versus 2019 (-39.1%, -39.9%, -39.1%, respectively) compared with cohort size decreases for breast cancer, prostate cancer, and melanoma (-47.7%, -49.1%, -51.8%, respectively). In addition, cancer screenings declined drastically, with breast cancer screenings dropping by -89.2% and colorectal cancer screenings by -84.5%.

Trends seen in the CCRN clearly suggest a significant decrease in all cancer-related patient encounters as a result of the pandemic. The steep decreases in cancer screening and patients with a new incidence of cancer suggest the possibility of a future increase in patients with later-stage cancer being seen initially as well as an increased demand for cancer screening procedures as delayed tests are rescheduled.