Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on treatment of colorectal cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Modifications to practice during COVID pandemic impacted health maintenance and treatment of cancer patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all consecutive patients presenting to our institution with a new diagnosis of colorectal cancer pre-COVID (January 2017 to December 2019) and post-COVID (January to December 2020). RESULTS: The total number of patients with a new diagnosis of CRC was 2196. The pre-COVID period had 1891 patients whereas post-COVID period had 305. The median number of patients diagnosed with CRC per month was 50 and 35.5 pre and post-COVID, respectively. Time to treatment initiation was similar with no difference in stage at presentation for the pre and post-COVID periods. CONCLUSION: There was a significant decrease in colorectal cancer diagnosis number and rate (p < 0.01) during the COVID era with no difference in staging at diagnosis or time to treatment initiation.