Are Breast Cancer Patients Presenting With Higher Stage Since the COVID-19 Pandemic?

ABSTRACT

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care is vast and continuing to unfold. As much progress related to breast cancer has resulted from screening and public health measures, we analyzed the stage at which patients with breast cancer presented for surgical consultation from 2019 to 2021. From 2019 to 2021, retrospective analysis was performed on breast cancer patients, comparing differences in patient demographics and cancer stage at diagnosis pre- and post-recommendation (COVID-era) to postpone mammographic screening on March 26, 2020. Proportion analysis was performed to identify similar percentages for each stage, and a weighed stage severity score with sign test was crafted to compare overall stage for a given year. The study included 1107 breast cancer patients from breast cancer surgery registry. These groups were similar demographically. We performed analysis comparing pre-COVID and COVID-era stage severity score. This showed a statistically higher stage at presentation when comparing pre-COVID to COVID-era data (P = .0027). Additionally, we identified a higher rate of stage 3 at presentation or greater in the COVID-era with 7.79% pre-COVID vs 12.3% COVID-era (P = .016). We found that in comparing pre-COVID to COVID-era data that breast cancer patients presented with higher stages, in particular, stage 3 or higher stage disease. This analysis reveals the impact of COVID on the multidisciplinary treatment of breast cancer patients. Additional efforts are needed to address the stage migration, the disproportionate burden of disease, and the access to care.