The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on practice patterns and outcomes in patients diagnosed with gynecologic malignancies in the United States.

Authors

null

Adrian Kohut

City of Hope National Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA

Adrian Kohut , Nicole Lugo Santiago , Rosemary Senguttuvan , Ernest Soyoung Han , Joshua Garrett Cohen , Stephen Lee , Thanh Hue Dellinger , Jeff Feng-Hsu Lin , Rebecca A. Nelson , Mihae Song , Ana Isabel Tergas

Organizations

City of Hope National Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA

Research Funding

No funding received
None.

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic caused historic disruptions in the United States healthcare system due to many factors, including a lack of medical equipment and pharmaceutical availability, over-capacitated hospital censuses, and limited essential workers. The short- and long-term effects on patients diagnosed with gynecologic malignancies during this time have yet to be delineated. Methods: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for patients diagnosed with ovarian, uterine, and cervical malignancies from 2019 (pre-covid) to 2020 (covid). Descriptive statistics of practice patterns and outcomes were performed and compared using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 29.0). Results: Within the NCDB, 10,261 patients were diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2019 compared to 8,501 in 2020. A significantly higher proportion of ovarian cancer patients were diagnosed with stage IV disease at diagnosis in 2020 (32.7%) compared to 2019 (30.9%), p = 0.007. Patients were less likely to undergo primary debulking surgery during covid (37.7%) compared to pre-covid (40.5%), p < 0.001. There was no significant difference in time from diagnosis to initiation of treatment (median: 9 vs. 9 days), nor was there a difference in the proportion of patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery to no gross residual disease (54.3 vs. 54.3%). 42,828 patients were diagnosed with uterine cancer in 2019 compared to 37,431 in 2020. A significantly higher proportion of uterine cancer patients were diagnosed with stage IV disease at diagnosis in 2020 (8.7%) compared to 2019 (8.2%), p = 0.016. The median time from diagnosis to initiation of treatment was 28 days in 2020 compared to 30 days in 2019, p < 0.001. The proportion of uterine cancer patients receiving primary radiation was higher during covid (1.7% vs. 0.5%), p < 0.001. Additionally, the proportion of uterine cancer patients receiving primary hormonal management was also higher during covid (2.5% vs. 2.1%, p < 0.001). 9,289 patients were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2019 compared to 7,661 in 2020. A significantly higher proportion of cervical cancer patients were diagnosed with stage IV disease at diagnosis in 2020 (16.6%) compared to 2019 (14.9%), p = 0.0021. The median time from diagnosis to initiation of treatment was 31 days in 2020 compared to 32 days in 2019, p = 0.005. Conclusions: We identified significant variations in practice patterns and outcomes in patients diagnosed with gynecologic malignancies in the United States in 2020 (covid) compared to immediately before covid (2019). Notably, we found a significantly higher proportion of patients presenting with advanced disease stages in all queried ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer patients. Long-term follow-up and survival outcomes are currently pending.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2023 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Discussion Session

Session Title

Gynecologic Cancer

Track

Gynecologic Cancer

Sub Track

Other Gynecologic Cancer

Citation

J Clin Oncol 41, 2023 (suppl 16; abstr 5523)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.5523

Abstract #

5523

Poster Bd #

218

Abstract Disclosures

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