Background

Suspension of cancer screening and treatment programs were instituted to preserve medical resources and protect vulnerable populations. This research aims to investigate the implications of COVID-19 on cancer management and clinical outcomes for patients with prostate and colorectal cancer in Canada.

Methods

We examined hospital cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, length of stay, and mortality data among prostate and colorectal cancer patients between April 2017 and March 2021. Baseline trends were established with data between April 2017 and March 2020 for comparison with data collected between April 2020 and March 2021. Scenario analyses were performed to assess the incremental capacity requirements needed to restore hospital cancer care capacities to the pre-pandemic levels.

Results

For prostate cancer, A 12% decrease in diagnoses and 5.3% decrease in treatment activities were observed during COVID-19 between April 2020 and March 2021. Similarly, a 43% reduction in colonoscopies, 11% decrease in diagnoses and 10% decrease in treatment activities were observed for colorectal cancers. An estimated 1,438 prostate and 2,494 colorectal cancer cases were undiagnosed, resulting in a total of 620 and 1,487 unperformed treatment activities for prostate and colorectal cancers, respectively, across nine provinces in Canada. To clear the backlogs of unperformed treatment procedures will require an estimated 3%-6% monthly capacity increase over the next 6 months.

Interpretation.

A concerted effort from all stakeholders is required to immediately ameliorate the backlogs of cancer detection and treatment activities. Mitigation measures should be implemented to minimize future interruptions to cancer care in Canada.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 对加拿大前列腺癌和结直肠癌患者医院筛查、诊断和治疗活动的影响

背景

暂停癌症筛查和治疗计划是为了保留医疗资源并保护弱势群体。本研究旨在调查 COVID-19 对加拿大前列腺癌和结直肠癌患者的癌症管理和临床结果的影响。

方法

我们检查了 2017 年 4 月至 2021 年 3 月期间前列腺癌和结直肠癌患者的医院癌症筛查、诊断、治疗、住院时间和死亡率数据。根据 2017 年 4 月至 2020 年 3 月的数据建立了基线趋势，以便与 2020 年 4 月期间收集的数据进行比较和 2021 年 3 月。进行了情景分析，以评估将医院癌症护理能力恢复到大流行前水平所需的增量能力需求。

结果

对于前列腺癌，2020 年 4 月至 2021 年 3 月期间，在 COVID-19 期间，诊断数量减少了 12%，治疗活动减少了 5.3%。同样，结肠镜检查数量减少了 43%，诊断数量减少了 11%，治疗数量减少了 10%观察到结直肠癌的活性。据估计，加拿大九个省有 1,438 例前列腺癌和 2,494 例结直肠癌病例未确诊，导致前列腺癌和结直肠癌治疗活动分别为 620 项和 1,487 项未执行的治疗活动。为了清除积压的未执行治疗程序，预计未来 6 个月每月产能需增加 3%-6%。

解释。

需要所有利益相关者共同努力，立即改善癌症检测和治疗活动的积压问题。应采取缓解措施，尽量减少未来加拿大癌症治疗的中断。