<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<bold>Introduction</bold>: It is estimated that delays in diagnosis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia could result in significant reductions in the number of potentially curative stages in lung cancer patients.
<bold>Purpose</bold>: The aim of this study was to review patient characteristics and treatment strategies of lung cancer patients treated at the University Clinic of Radiotherapy and Oncology (UCRO), during the pre-pandemic year (from 1 of March 2019 to the end of February 2020) and the pandemic year (from 1 of March 2020 to the end of February 2021).
<bold>Material</bold>: We analyzed eligible patients in the course of these two years according to patient characteristics and treatment strategies.
<bold>Results</bold>: We have a record increasing in number of undefined lung cancer patients without any pathological or histological conformation (11% pandemic year compared to 7% in the previous year), and an increased number of stage III and IV NSCLC patients in the pandemic year 449 (87%), in comparison to the pre-pandemic year of 403 (74%) patients. We have found a decreasing number of stage II NSCLC patients in the pandemic year 82 (13%) compared to 141 (26%) patients in the pre-pandemic year. We also note a decreasing number of patients with NSCLC operated on from 218 to 123 in the pandemic group. Due to frequent check-ups for COVID-19, we report an increasing number of early stage IA and stage IB patients, treated only by surgery.
<bold>Conclusions</bold>: The strict screening and admittance criteria put in place by hospitals during the pandemic might have improved the oncology treatment course of lung cancer patients.
</abstract>

Introduction: It is estimated that delays in diagnosis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia could result in significant reductions in the number of potentially curative stages in lung cancer patients.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to review patient characteristics and treatment strategies of lung cancer patients treated at the University Clinic of Radiotherapy and Oncology (UCRO), during the pre-pandemic year (from 1 of March 2019 to the end of February 2020) and the pandemic year (from 1 of March 2020 to the end of February 2021).
Material: We analyzed eligible patients in the course of these two years according to patient characteristics and treatment strategies.
Results: We have a record increasing in number of undefined lung cancer patients without any pathological or histological conformation (11% pandemic year compared to 7% in the previous year), and an increased number of stage III and IV NSCLC patients in the pandemic year 449 (87%), in comparison to the pre-pandemic year of 403 (74%) patients. We have found a decreasing number of stage II NSCLC patients in the pandemic year 82 (13%) compared to 141 (26%) patients in the pre-pandemic year. We also note a decreasing number of patients with NSCLC operated on from 218 to 123 in the pandemic group. Due to frequent check-ups for COVID-19, we report an increasing number of early stage IA and stage IB patients, treated only by surgery.
Conclusions: The strict screening and admittance criteria put in place by hospitals during the pandemic might have improved the oncology treatment course of lung cancer patients.

Review of Lung Cancer Patient Characteristics and Treatment Strategies in the Pandemic Covid-19 Year

University Clinic of Radiotherapy and Oncology

PRILOZI

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Treated at the University Clinic of Radiotherapy and Oncology in Skopje

Introduction: It is estimated that delays in diagnosis due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia could result in significant reductions in the number of...

Review of Lung Cancer Patient Characteristics and Treatment Strategies in the Pandemic Covid-19 Year

Published Online: Mar 29, 2023

Page range: 105 - 115

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/prilozi-2023-0012

Keywords
COVID-19, lung cancer, pandemic year, pre-pandemic year

© 2023 Simonida Crvenkova et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Review of Lung Cancer Patient Characteristics and Treatment Strategies in the Pandemic Covid-19 Year

Published Online: Mar 29, 2023

Page range: 105 - 115

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/prilozi-2023-0012

KeywordsCOVID-19, lung cancer, pandemic year, pre-pandemic year

© 2023 Simonida Crvenkova et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
COVID-19, lung cancer, pandemic year, pre-pandemic year