Higher level of advanced colorectal cancer diagnosed during COVID-19

19th December 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic period was associated with a higher level of advanced colorectal cancer diagnoses compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Italian researchers have found that the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with the diagnosis of more advanced stage colorectal cancer in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.

The World Health Organization describes how globally, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer with nearly two million cases and almost one million deaths in 2020.

Nevertheless, despite screening programs being widely available, emerging data from, for example, the US, clearly shows how after the national lockdowns imposed because of COVID-19, while stool testing increased by 7%, there was a 16% decrease in colonoscopy between 2018 and 2020.

Consequently, there have been concerns that the pandemic together with a reluctance of patients to seek medical attention, could be associated with a risk of more advanced colorectal cancer at diagnosis.

Moreover, one modelling study estimated 1,176,942 to 2,014,164 fewer colorectal cancer screenings, 8,346 to 12,894 fewer colorectal cancer diagnoses and 6,113 to 9,301 fewer early-stage colorectal cancer diagnoses between 2020 and 2023.

Nevertheless, there has been a lack of real-world evidence on the actual level of advanced colorectal diagnoses because of COVID-19.

In the present study, the Italian team set out to determine if the pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer.

The team undertook a retrospective, multicentre cohort study of all adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from 1 March 2020, to 31 December 2021 (pandemic period) in comparison to 1 January 2018, to 29 February 2020 (the pre-pandemic period).

They considered any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections.

The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis whereas secondary outcomes included distant metastasis and T4 stage.

Advanced colorectal cancer outcomes

A total of 17,938 patients with a mean age of 70.6 years (55.8% male) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer, 43.5% of whom had surgery during the pandemic period.

The proportion of patients with stage 1 disease was significantly lower during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic phase (20.7% vs 23.3%, p < 0.001). In addition, there was a significantly higher proportion of stage 4 disease during the pandemic (15% vs 13.9%, p = 0.03).

Using regression analysis, the pandemic period was found to be significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio, OR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.01 – 1.13, p = 0.03), an aggressive biology (OR = 1.32, p < 0.01) and stenotic lesions (OR = 1.15, p = 0.03).

The authors concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly associated with a risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. They added that these results may indicate a potential reduced survival for these patients.

Citation
Rottoli M et al. Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy. JAMA Netw Open 2022.