Surgical Timing and Safety of Breast Cancer Operations After COVID-19: A Prospective-Only Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.

ABSTRACT: Background: The COVID-19 pandemic raised uncertainties regarding the safe timing of breast cancer surgery after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and robust prospective evidence has remained limited. Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies (2020-2024) investigating postoperative outcomes in breast cancer patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection ≤90 days before surgery versus contemporaneous non-infected controls treated at the same institutions and in the same period. PROSPERO CRD420251174613. Random-effects models (DerSimonian-Laird with Hartung-Knapp adjustment) were used to pool odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Study quality was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, and certainty of evidence was rated using

SUBMITTER: Cotet IG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12787065 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature