Faster surgery initiation in oral cancer patients during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Osaka, Japan

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundWe investigated the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on oral cancer (OC), comparing diagnosis and number of pre‐operative days in the diagnosis of OC in 2019 (pre‐COVID‐19) and that in 2020 (during the COVID‐19 pandemic).MethodsUsing data from a cancer registry‐based study on the impact of COVID‐19 on cancer care in Osaka (CanReCO), we collected details of sex, age, residential area, cancer site, date of diagnosis, clinical stage at first treatment and number of pre‐operative days in OC patients.ResultsA total of 1470 OC cases were registered. Incidence of OC before and during COVID‐19 was 814 and 656 cases, respectively. During the first wave of the pandemic (March to May 2020), incidence was about half that in the same period in 2019 (2019; n = 271, 2020; n = 145). Number of pre‐operative days (median number of days between the first hospital visit and surgery date) was significantly shorter during the COVID‐19 year (24.5 days) than in the pre‐COVID‐19 year (28 days, p = 0.0015).ConclusionsIncidence of OC during the COVID‐19 pandemic was lower than in pre‐COVID‐19. Despite disruption in the healthcare system, the number of pre‐operative days for OC cases was shorter during the pandemic.