Early survival for patients newly diagnosed with cancer during COVID‐19 in Ontario, Canada: A population‐based cohort study

Bibliographic Details
Title: Early survival for patients newly diagnosed with cancer during COVID‐19 in Ontario, Canada: A population‐based cohort study
Authors: Rui Fu, Rinku Sutradhar, Qing Li, Pabiththa Kamalraj, Anna Dare, Timothy P. Hanna, Kelvin K. W. Chan, Jonathan C. Irish, Natalie Coburn, Julie Hallet, Simron Singh, Ambica Parmar, Craig C. Earle, Lauren Lapointe‐Shaw, Monika K. Krzyzanowska, Alexander V. Louie, Alyson Mahar, David R. Urbach, Daniel I. McIsaac, Danny Enepekides, David Gomez, Nicole J. Look Hong, Jill Tinmouth, Antoine Eskander
Source: Cancer Medicine, Vol 12, Iss 10, Pp 11849-11859 (2023)
Publisher Information: Wiley, 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
Subject Terms: cancer, cancer detection, cancer survivorship, COVID‐19, oncology, Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens, RC254-282
More Details: Abstract Background Little is known about the association between the COVID‐19 pandemic and early survival among newly diagnosed cancer patients. Methods This retrospective population‐based cohort study used linked administrative datasets from Ontario, Canada. Adults (≥18 years) who received a cancer diagnosis between March 15 and December 31, 2020, were included in a pandemic cohort, while those diagnosed during the same dates in 2018/2019 were included in a pre‐pandemic cohort. All patients were followed for one full year after the date of diagnosis. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess survival in relation to the pandemic, patient characteristics at diagnosis, and the modality of first cancer treatment as a time‐varying covariate. Interaction terms were explored to measure the pandemic association with survival for each cancer type. Results Among 179,746 patients, 53,387 (29.7%) were in the pandemic cohort and 37,741 (21.0%) died over the first post‐diagnosis year. No association between the pandemic and survival was found when adjusting for patient characteristics at diagnosis (HR 0.99 [95% CI 0.96–1.01]), while marginally better survival was found for the pandemic cohort when the modality of treatment was additionally considered (HR 0.97 [95% CI 0.95–0.99]). When examining each cancer type, only a new melanoma diagnosis was associated with a worse survival in the pandemic cohort (HR 1.25 [95% CI 1.05–1.49]). Conclusions Among patients able to receive a cancer diagnosis during the pandemic, one‐year overall survival was not different than those diagnosed in the previous 2 years. This study highlights the complex nature of the COVID‐19 pandemic impact on cancer care.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2045-7634
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2045-7634
DOI: 10.1002/cam4.5861
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/88d1d600525e42fa9ed5252b53c0be68
Accession Number: edsdoj.88d1d600525e42fa9ed5252b53c0be68
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:20457634
DOI:10.1002/cam4.5861
Published in:Cancer Medicine
Language:English