The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the presentation status of newly diagnosed melanoma: A single institution experience

Shannon, Adrienne B.; Sharon, Cimarron E.; Straker, Richard J.; Miura, John T.; Ming, Michael E.; Chu, Emily Y.; Karakousis, Giorgos C.

doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2020.12.034

Cited by 37 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The commencement of new protocols was because melanoma patients attending the daycare in the final third of 2020 were with more extensive disease and requiring a change of treatment regime. A similar trend was noted in the University of Pennsylvania [ 13 ]. The physicians there reported a more advanced malignant melanoma presentation in the COVID-19 era.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Hidden in plain sight: the (other) danger of COVID-19

et al. 2021

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The Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first emerged in Wuhan province, China, in late November 2019 and changed public healthcare perception. It has caused a significant decline in attendance to outpatient clinics. However, other diseases have not stopped, including malignant melanoma. Survey of the number of visits to plastic surgery outpatient clinic during the first lockdown in Israel concerning malignant melanoma was compared to the same months in the previous years. We assessed the number of visits to the oncology department during 2020 compared to the number of visits and treatment protocols for malignant melanoma. During the first lockdown, the attendance at the plastic surgery outpatient clinic and ambulatory surgery decreased significantly ( P = 0.002), both in excisions of suspected malignant melanoma and malignant melanoma follow-ups ( P = 0.019 and P = 0.035, respectively). The last third of 2020 (from September to December) had shown a significant rise in new protocols commenced ( P < 0.001). This rise in the final third of the year was not noted in 2018 or 2019. These data clearly show the rise in advanced and metastatic malignant melanoma cases due to refraining from medical follow-ups and treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Diseases other than COVID-19 have not vanished, and continue to treat those diseases. Ignoring malignant melanoma treatment because of COVID-19 and vice-versa will not benefit our patients.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Hidden in plain sight: the (other) danger of COVID-19

et al. 2021

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“… 15 102 For example, a recent US-based single-center study observed that patients diagnosed with melanoma during the COVID-19 pandemic exhibited significantly higher tumor depth, mitotic rates, satellitosis, and pT3/T4 tumors compared with those diagnosed in the pre COVID-19 setting. 103 In addition, a multicenter Italian study of 169 patients with advanced (stages III and IV) melanoma on ICI found 49 (29%) of these patients to experience a delay in their ICI treatment for a median of 4 weeks due to clinician’s concerns of frailty and increased risk of contracting COVID-19, while actual COVID-19 diagnoses of this entire cohort were ultimately found to be lower than the general population. 93 With no clear evidence suggesting that ICIs worsen the risk or course of a COVID-19 infection, many sources have concurred that patients with melanoma, particularly those of an advanced stage, be treated without hesitation via standard of care regimens including ICIs and targeted therapy pending individual serine–threonine protein kinase B-RAF (BRAF) mutational status.…”

Section: Melanoma-specific Clinical Considerations Regarding Sars-cov-2 and Ici Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical and immunologic implications of COVID-19 in patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors

Switzer

Haanen

Lorigan

et al. 2021

J Immunother Cancer

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The clinical and immunologic implications of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for patients with cancer receiving systemic anticancer therapy have introduced a multitude of clinical challenges and academic controversies. This review summarizes the current evidence, discussion points, and recommendations regarding the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with cancer during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with a focus on patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). More specifically, we summarize the theoretical concepts and available objective data regarding the relationships between ICIs and the antiviral immune response, along with recommended clinical approaches to the management of melanoma and RCC patient cohorts receiving ICIs throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional insights regarding the use of ICIs in the setting of current and upcoming COVID-19 vaccines and broader implications toward future pandemics are also discussed.

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“… 7 Other US authors reported no difference in the proportion of in situ and invasive tumours for the same time periods, although the Breslow thickness of invasive tumours was greater. 8 …”

Section: Reportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of COVID‐19 confinement on the size of malignant skin tumours surgically removed at a Spanish hospital

Conde‐Taboada

Iglesias‐Puzas

Sirgado

et al. 2021

Clin Experimental Derm

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Summary The COVID‐19 pandemic required people to confine themselves to their homes where possible, and disrupted normal hospital activities. We examine whether this lockdown generated changes in the size of the tumours. We compared the dimensions of the surgically removed malignant skin tumours from the first 150 patients treated after the confinement ended in Spain (22 May 2020) with those of the last 150 patients to receive such treatment before the confinement began (13 March 2020). Data on tumour surface area were collected from pathology reports. Overall, no significant difference was seen in the tumour sizes. However, among men, the tumours removed after confinement were significantly larger ( P < 0.05). Controversy exists over how the reduction in the number of tumours diagnosed during lockdowns might have influenced the characteristics of tumours. In this study, no overall difference was seen in the size of the tumours removed, although those removed from men after confinement were larger.

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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the presentation status of newly diagnosed melanoma: A single institution experience

Cited by 37 publications

References 3 publications

Hidden in plain sight: the (other) danger of COVID-19

Hidden in plain sight: the (other) danger of COVID-19

Clinical and immunologic implications of COVID-19 in patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors

Influence of COVID‐19 confinement on the size of malignant skin tumours surgically removed at a Spanish hospital

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