Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Patients’ Consultation and Diagnosis

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic negatively affected the diagnosis and treatment of several cancer types. However, the exact impact and extent of this pandemic on bone and soft tissue sarcomas have not been clarified. We aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consultation behavior and clinical stage at diagnosis of bone and soft tissue sarcoma. A total of 403 patients diagnosed with bone and soft tissue sarcoma who initially visited three sarcoma treatment hospitals between January 2018 and December 2021 were included. The monthly number of newly diagnosed primary bone and soft tissue sarcoma cases was significantly decreased by 43% during the state of emergency declaration (6.9 vs. 3.9; p<0.001). Furthermore, the monthly number of new primary soft tissue sarcoma cases was reduced by 25% during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic (6.0 vs. 4.5; p=0.020), especially for painless soft tissue sarcoma cases (4.5 vs. 3.1; p=0.014). The proportion of patients with stage IV disease at diagnosis significantly was increased by 9% during the COVID-19 pandemic (10 vs. 19%. p=0.032). The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on bone and soft tissue sarcoma patients’ consultation behavior, especially for those with painless soft tissue sarcoma.