The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on colorectal cancer surgery has been the subject of recent research published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS). The study, which involved a large-scale retrospective analysis of 105,517 colorectal cancer cases, revealed a significant decline in surgeries for colorectal cancer during the pandemic.
According to the study, there was a 17.3% overall decrease in colorectal cancer surgeries in 2020 compared to 2019. This decline was accompanied by a noticeable shift towards more advanced stages of the disease among patients who underwent surgery in 2020, making treatment and cure more challenging.
Dr. David W. Larson, senior author of the study and a professor of surgery at Mayo Clinic, emphasized the profound impact of the decrease in surgeries, stating that approximately 10,000 fewer patients underwent surgery for colorectal cancer in 2020 compared to the previous year. He highlighted the critical importance of timely surgery in improving patient outcomes for this serious illness.
The study also highlighted the concerning trend of colorectal cancer diagnosis in younger adults, with the disease now being a leading cause of cancer deaths in people under 50. Under normal circumstances, researchers would expect stable or increasing growth in colorectal cancer surgeries from year to year, but the pandemic has disrupted this pattern.
Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB), the researchers analyzed data from adult patients who underwent operations for colon and rectal cancer between 2019 and 2020. The analysis included factors such as type of surgery, age, sex, race, ethnicity, income, and insurance status, providing valuable insights into the impact of the pandemic on colorectal cancer surgeries.
Key findings from the study revealed a 21% decrease in operations for rectal cancer and a 16% decrease for colon cancer, contributing to the overall 17.3% decline in colorectal cancer surgeries during the initial phase of the pandemic.
