EP06.01-012 Impact of COVID-19 on the Stage of Lung Cancer Diagnosis at the Mohamed VI Center for Cancer Treatment in Morocco

Abstract

IntroductionLung cancer is a public health problem because it is the leading cause of death. And the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a sharp drop in referrals to oncology services. A delay in the diagnostic process could have an impact on the diagnostic stage. We will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnostic stage in our center.Methodsthe retrospective study was carried out in the radiotherapy department between January 2019 and 2020. We included all patients with a usable file. We used the KHI2 test to determine the impacts of the covid periods on the management parameters of our patients (variables) and the impacts with a value of p ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16.ResultsWe included 953 patients. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of patients were male. The median age was 63 years (the interquartile range was 13 years). The proportion of patients with stage IV lung cancer has increased significantly (2019: II=11, III=201, IV=291; 2020: II=7, III=105, IV=338; p= 0.0001) and that of those sent to palliative care for symptomatic treatment was also significant (2019: 190 and 2020: 204; p=0.018).ConclusionsThe proportion of patients with lung cancers at a metastatic stage has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic with a large number of patients who will not be able to receive specific treatment.Keywordsimpact, COVID-19, lung cancer IntroductionLung cancer is a public health problem because it is the leading cause of death. And the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a sharp drop in referrals to oncology services. A delay in the diagnostic process could have an impact on the diagnostic stage. We will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnostic stage in our center. Lung cancer is a public health problem because it is the leading cause of death. And the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a sharp drop in referrals to oncology services. A delay in the diagnostic process could have an impact on the diagnostic stage. We will study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnostic stage in our center. Methodsthe retrospective study was carried out in the radiotherapy department between January 2019 and 2020. We included all patients with a usable file. We used the KHI2 test to determine the impacts of the covid periods on the management parameters of our patients (variables) and the impacts with a value of p ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16. the retrospective study was carried out in the radiotherapy department between January 2019 and 2020. We included all patients with a usable file. We used the KHI2 test to determine the impacts of the covid periods on the management parameters of our patients (variables) and the impacts with a value of p ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16. ResultsWe included 953 patients. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of patients were male. The median age was 63 years (the interquartile range was 13 years). The proportion of patients with stage IV lung cancer has increased significantly (2019: II=11, III=201, IV=291; 2020: II=7, III=105, IV=338; p= 0.0001) and that of those sent to palliative care for symptomatic treatment was also significant (2019: 190 and 2020: 204; p=0.018). We included 953 patients. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of patients were male. The median age was 63 years (the interquartile range was 13 years). The proportion of patients with stage IV lung cancer has increased significantly (2019: II=11, III=201, IV=291; 2020: II=7, III=105, IV=338; p= 0.0001) and that of those sent to palliative care for symptomatic treatment was also significant (2019: 190 and 2020: 204; p=0.018). ConclusionsThe proportion of patients with lung cancers at a metastatic stage has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic with a large number of patients who will not be able to receive specific treatment. The proportion of patients with lung cancers at a metastatic stage has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic with a large number of patients who will not be able to receive specific treatment.