Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in South Korea has affected the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up protocols of various cancers. This study investigated the patterns of delaying surgery for breast cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea and evaluated factors that may have affected the decision to delay surgery.Methods: From February 18 to April 18, 2020, which was the critical period for COVID-19 in South Korea, patients with breast cancer who were scheduled for surgery were evaluated in terms of their decision in delaying the procedure. The patients were divided into two groups: delaying and non-delaying surgery groups. The association between personal and clinicopathological factors and delaying surgery was evaluated.Results: In patients belonging to the delaying surgery group, the mean delay period was 15.9 (standard deviation [SD], ±10.9) days. Patients in the non-delaying surgery group were relatively younger (p = 0.003), single (p = 0.038), had planned mastectomy (p = 0.041), received needle biopsy for diagnosis (p = 0.021), and had a higher clinical N stage (p = 0.049) and multifocal lesions of breast cancer (p = 0.020). However, there were no significant differences in terms of the pathological T and N stages between the two groups.Conclusion: During the COVID-19 outbreak, there was no occurrence of nosocomial infection in the non-delaying surgery group and no statistical difference in pathological stage between the delaying and non-delaying surgery groups. Although patients in the delaying surgery group tended to be relatively older and married and had planned small-scale surgery with a good prognosis of breast cancer, the prognosis did not appear to have changed whether delaying or proceeding with surgery for breast cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Highlights
As of February 17, 2020, only 30 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had been reported in South Korea
In South Korea, the most severe outbreak occurred in Daegu, and fatal medical conditions progressed on a daily basis [1, 7,8,9,10]
The present study investigated the patterns of delaying surgery for breast cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak and evaluated the clinical outcomes between patients with breast cancer who postponed surgery and those who proceeded with surgery
Summary
As of February 17, 2020, only 30 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had been reported in South Korea. On February 18, 2020, the 31st patient with confirmed COVID-19 was reported in Daegu, the third largest city in South Korea. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused delays in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cancer worldwide. Several oncology groups have established cancer guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and physicians have managed such patients by following these guidelines [4,5,6]. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in South Korea has affected the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up protocols of various cancers. This study investigated the patterns of delaying surgery for breast cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea and evaluated factors that may have affected the decision to delay surgery
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