Association between the COVID-19 pandemic and first cancer treatment modality: a population-based cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Physicians were directed to prioritize using nonsurgical cancer treatment at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to quantify the impact of this policy on the modality of first cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or no treatment).

Methods

In this population-based study using Ontario data from linked administrative databases, we identified adults diagnosed with cancer from January 2016 to November 2020 and their first cancer treatment received within 1 year postdiagnosis. Segmented Poisson regressions were applied to each modality to estimate the change in mean 1-year recipient volume per thousand patients (rate) at the start of the pandemic (the week of Mar. 15, 2020) and change in the weekly trend in rate during the pandemic (Mar. 1

SUBMITTER: Fu R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10174267 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature