The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on head and neck cancer diagnosis and treatment

Abstract

Background/purpose: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there were reports of diagnostic delays and a surge in the prevalence of advanced head and neck cancer (HNC). We conducted a retrospective study on the impact of COVID-19 on the number of newly diagnosed HNC among patients who underwent screening at our center to understand the temporal changes. Materials and methodsWe investigated the Union for International Cancer Control guidelines-TNM classification, presence of subjective symptoms at the time of consultation, and initial treatment from the medical records of first-time patients with HNC who visited our head and neck surgery department during 2019–2021 and compared them with those before (2019) and after (2020–2021) the pandemic. ResultsA total of 1245 patients were included in the study. The number of patients were 437, 417, and 391 in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively, indicating a downward trend following the pandemic. When the incidence of early (stage 0–II) and advanced (stage III–IV) HNC cancers was compared, the proportion of patients with early-stage cancer declined. Among them, significant primary tumor progression was observed in T classification. The number of patients with no subjective symptoms at initial diagnosis was decreasing significantly. ConclusionA decrease in the proportion of HNC patients with early-stage cancer and primary tumor progression was observed after the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The number of early-stage malignancies may have dropped due to patients' unwillingness to visit a doctor.