Post pandemic reality in breast cancer in Brazil.

Abstract

e22530 Background: After the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was impact in breast cancer diagnosis all over the world but especially in low income countries. We aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on early diagnosis of breast cancer at an oncology center in southeast of Brazil. Methods: We extracted data on new breast cancer cases from Hospital Cancer Registry (RHC) of the Hospital Evangelico de Cachoeiro de Itapermirim in Espirito Santo/Brazil. Two intervals were compared: pre-COVID-19 (2019) and pos COVID-19 pandemic (2021) periods. Results: We had 224 new breast cancer cases in 2019 and 252 in 2021. There was an increase of 12,5 % new cases comparing the two years. In 2019 we had 23% of cases diagnosed in clinical stage (CS) I, 33% CS II, 15% CS III, 11% CS IV and 18% without information. In the year 2021 13% in CS I, 40% CS II, 20% CS III, 11% CS IV and 16% without CS information (table). In respect of age da median age at first diagnosis in 2019 was 61 years and in 2021 it was 56 years, demonstrating a decrease of age over the years. Conclusions: Breast cancer in Brazil was already a public health problem before the pandemic and it has aggravated. A substantial decrease in the number of patients with earlier stages of breast cancer at diagnosis was observed after COVID-19 pandemic. This studies demonstrates the need of efficient public policy to mitigate this problem. [Table: see text]