The stage of laryngeal cancer before and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic severely restricted global access to healthcare, including for patients with laryngeal cancer (LC).

OBJECTIVES

To compare laryngeal cancer stage distribution (TNM classification), surgical treatment patterns (types of surgery and perioperative complications), and timelines before vs 1 year after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective, single-center, cross-sectional study at a tertiary care center in Poland. The analysis included 110 patients hospitalized for laryngeal cancer during 2 six-month intervals: October 2019-March 2020 (prepandemic, group 1) and October 2021-March 2022 (post-pandemic, group 2).

RESULTS

Group 1 included 49 patients, and group 2 included 61. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups, with males comprising 96.9% of group 1 and 83.6% of group 2. Admissions via the fast-track cancer pathway increased from 33.3% in group 1 to 52.5% in group 2. Although a higher proportion of patients in group 2 were classified as stage IVB by TNM, the difference was not statistically significant. Surgical treatment patterns were largely consistent across groups, except for a decrease in total laryngectomy from 18.4% in group 1 to 3.3% in group 2. Moderately differentiated tumors (G2) were more common in group 1 (66.7%) than in group 2 (35%). High concordance was observed between clinical and pathological staging for tumor size (79.1%) and regional lymph node metastasis (87.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

Future research should extend the post-COVID-19 observation period, as pandemic-related adverse effects on cancer diagnosis and outcomes may not fully manifest until several years later.