Arrangement and objectives of providing patients with lung cancer with treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Russian region

Abstract

The operation of the oncological services of the Russian Federation were complicated by the spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2, which worsened the diagnosis of lung cancer and led to the reorientation of medical institutions to the anti-epidemic mode.The aim. To evaluate the features of providing medical care for lung cancer to residents of the Magadan Region during the pandemic of COronaVIrus Disease-19 (COVID-19).Methods. The analysis of the Magadan Region database on patients with lung cancer was carried out. The databased is filled in with the information from state statistical reporting forms No.7 and No.35. General problems of the Magadan Region healthcare system were identified using materials of publications from the Medline, CrossRef, Pubmed and Scopus databases for 2019 – 2021; the potential solutions were also suggested.Results. The analysis of the incidence of malignant neoplasms in 2014 – 2020 yy. showed that lung tumors are in the lead among Magadan Region residents. The “rough” incidence rate of lung cancer in 2019 (58.8 per 100,000 inhabitants an increase from 2009 +20.74%) and the relative proportion of these tumors detected in 2020 in localized stages are ahead of the average values for the Russian Federation. In 2018 – 2021, the indicator of morphological verification of lung cancer and the proportion of advanced tumors continued to increase, but the one-year mortality rate was decreasing. In 2021, 10.3% of the residents of Magadan Region had low-dose computed tomography (CT) of the chest organs. 10 (1.8%) cases of lung cancer were detected. Localized lung cancer was detected in 32.5% of those cases (2020 – 24.5%, 2019 – 20.3%). The spread of the coronavirus infection has complicated work of the staff of the Magadan Region oncology service: remote medical consultations for patients living far from the regional center (Magadan) are to be developed. Insufficient number of low-dose CT machines in the medical institutions, understaffing in health facilities, insufficient use of chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with lung cancer, as well as problems of palliative care for patients with advanced stages of the tumor were identified.Conclusion. The main problems of the oncological service of the Magadan Region are the shortage of personnel, lack of equipment and the lack of a single information field in the medical institutions. These problems of specialized medical care for patients with lung cancer will have to be solved by the regional Ministry of Health, scientific schools, and universities.