Resources

The goal of this study is to evaluate the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer patients, taking into account not just cancer screening but also cancer diagnosis, diagnostic tests for cancer, treatments for oncologic patients, and initial and follow-up visits for oncology patients. This study uses a systematic review to look into how the COVID-19 pandemic measures relate to cancer screening. Against a global trend of rising colorectal cancer screening and a modest decline in cervical cancer screening and mammography from 2000 to 2015, this study discovered a significant correlation with a decrease in the number of tests performed for the three cancer types in all geographic locations studied during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The outcomes of this review were consistent across a variety of healthcare settings, which was a key factor. In studies conducted in hospitals or other clinic settings, the correlation between the epidemic and cancer screening was stronger than in population-based studies, particularly for breast cancer screening. This could be explained by the fact that clinic-based studies only took into account the decline in the number of patients who actually underwent the screening test, whereas population-based studies also included patients who did not take part in screening programs during the pre-pandemic period. According to the findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis, there may be a U-shaped temporal pattern in the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer screening. The drop in colorectal cancer screening remained until October 2020, despite the fact that the data for breast and cervical cancer screening point to recovery after May 2020. This is anticipated to be linked to an increase in preventable advanced malignancies and deaths from cancer. It is necessary to conduct more research on cancer detection and therapy during the COVID-19 catastrophe.