Documentación Coronavirus

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected cancer care worldwide. In the Netherlands, a lockdown was introduced on March 23, 2020. Planned cancer surgical procedures and systemic treatmentswere delayed or stopped. The Netherlands Cancer Registry reported a 25% decrease in the absolute number of cancer diagnoses. Furthermore, to prevent the potential risk of an infection, patients with cancer were advised to not visit the hospital unless strictly needed.

Delay in the treatment of cancer can have adverse consequences on outcome. However, despite its foundational importance, we lack standardised estimates of the effect of treatment delay on survival for most treatment indications. Previous meta-analyses have found evidence supporting a continuous association between delay and mortality or local control. A wide variation in reporting of delay estimates has limited meta-analysis. Understanding the impact of delay on mortality and other outcomes such as recurrence or financial impact on patients is essential to designing cancer care systems, pathways, and models of care that deliver affordable and equitable outcomes