Lee Jeeyeon, Jung Jin Hyang, Kim Wan Wook, Park Chan Sub, Park Ho Yong
Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital, Daegu, South Korea.
Front Surg. 2020 Oct 8;7:576196. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2020.576196. eCollection 2020.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in South Korea has affected the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up protocols of various cancers. This study investigated the patterns of delaying surgery for breast cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea and evaluated factors that may have affected the decision to delay surgery. From February 18 to April 18, 2020, which was the critical period for COVID-19 in South Korea, patients with breast cancer who were scheduled for surgery were evaluated in terms of their decision in delaying the procedure. The patients were divided into two groups: delaying and non-delaying surgery groups. The association between personal and clinicopathological factors and delaying surgery was evaluated. In patients belonging to the delaying surgery group, the mean delay period was 15.9 (standard deviation [SD], ±10.9) days. Patients in the non-delaying surgery group were relatively younger ( = 0.003), single ( = 0.038), had planned mastectomy ( = 0.041), received needle biopsy for diagnosis ( = 0.021), and had a higher clinical N stage ( = 0.049) and multifocal lesions of breast cancer ( = 0.020). However, there were no significant differences in terms of the pathological T and N stages between the two groups. During the COVID-19 outbreak, there was no occurrence of nosocomial infection in the non-delaying surgery group and no statistical difference in pathological stage between the delaying and non-delaying surgery groups. Although patients in the delaying surgery group tended to be relatively older and married and had planned small-scale surgery with a good prognosis of breast cancer, the prognosis did not appear to have changed whether delaying or proceeding with surgery for breast cancer during the COVID-19 outbreak.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）在韩国的爆发影响了各类癌症的诊断、治疗及后续方案。本研究调查了韩国COVID-19疫情期间乳腺癌手术延迟的模式，并评估了可能影响延迟手术决策的因素。在韩国COVID-19的关键时期，即2020年2月18日至4月18日，对计划接受手术的乳腺癌患者延迟手术的决策进行了评估。患者被分为两组：延迟手术组和非延迟手术组。评估了个人及临床病理因素与延迟手术之间的关联。延迟手术组患者的平均延迟时间为15.9（标准差[SD]，±10.9）天。非延迟手术组的患者相对更年轻（P = 0.003）、单身（P = 0.038），计划进行乳房切除术（P = 0.041），接受针吸活检以进行诊断（P = 0.021），且临床N分期更高（P = 0.049）以及存在乳腺癌多灶性病变（P = 0.020）。然而，两组之间在病理T和N分期方面无显著差异。在COVID-19疫情期间，非延迟手术组未发生医院感染，延迟手术组和非延迟手术组在病理分期方面无统计学差异。尽管延迟手术组的患者往往年龄相对较大且已婚，计划进行预后良好的小规模乳腺癌手术，但在COVID-19疫情期间，无论延迟还是进行乳腺癌手术，预后似乎都没有改变。
