Influence of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on management and prognosis of new lung cancer cases, a retrospective multicentre real-life cohort study

Resource allocation during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the impact on patients with lung cancer: a systematic review

“…However, contrasting with some of the previous results, there was no difference in the proportion of patients with advanced (stage IV) disease [ 2 ]. A retrospective, multicentre analysis in France also indicated a 32% decrease in new lung cancer diagnoses but no significant difference in the initial tumour stage [ 28 ].…”

“…A retrospective, multicentre analysis of patients with lung cancer in France over the same period also reported no significant difference in rates of 6-month mortality following systemic anticancer therapy or surgical intervention. However, they did note increased mortality in patients with COVID-19 who received systemic anticancer therapy [ 28 ].…”

“…These differences in findings are likely multifactorial including the fact that many of these studies were published in different regions of the world where the impact and timing of the various waves of the pandemic differed, there were differing responses to the pandemic from governments and healthcare authorities, and there are diverse healthcare systems with contrasting priorities and resource utilization. Among patients undergoing surgical intervention for lung cancers during the pandemic, there were few differences identified in postoperative outcomes [ 18 , 19 , 21 , 25 , 28 , 40–42 , 45 , 46 ]. Finally, when accounting for the above disruptions in screening, assessments, diagnostics and interventions, studies aimed at modelling the impact of these changes predict significant increases in mortality for patients with lung cancer in the years to come [ 47–50 ].…”

A Comparative Multicenter Cohort Study Evaluating the Long-Term Influence of the Strict Lockdown during the First COVID-19 Wave on Lung Cancer Patients (ARTEMISIA Trial)

“…For instance, a retrospective study, which selected cases from electronic records, compared different indicators between a pre-COVID-19 cohort (2018-2019) and a 2020 cohort, including the first two COVID-19 waves. While a significant drop in case numbers was noted during the first wave (decrease of 32%), the initial Tumor Node Metastasis stage, the delay to treatment initiation and survival remained unchanged [26]. Likewise, a national study performed on 275,590 stage III-IV LC patients failed to demonstrate a correlation between extended treatment delay from diagnosis and decreased survival compared to prompt treatment [27].…”

“…To our knowledge, the prognostic impact of the first lockdown has never been evaluated after a sufficient follow-up period [26], making this public health issue unresolved to date. The multivariate survival analysis demonstrated the better prognosis of patients in the 2020 cohort, independently of other prognostic covariates such as age, stage, ECOG PS, sex and smoking status.…”