General Surgery Department, Marmara University Pendik Research and Treatment Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
J Gastrointest Cancer. 2022 Dec;53(4):848-853. doi: 10.1007/s12029-021-00751-6. Epub 2021 Nov 22.
From the early days of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change whole life all around the world. Oncological patients are the most affected populations since these days. Because of decreasing numbers in surgery and endoscopy, gastric cancer patients had difficulties in treatment and diagnoses. Therefore, the early and long-term results may be affected during the pandemic. In this study, we aimed to evaluate pandemia effects on gastric cancer surgery in a single center.
PATIENTS-METHODS: Patients were categorized as the COVID group and the Pre-COVID group. Patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy were excluded from the study. In the COVID period, 50 patients underwent gastric cancer surgery, while 64 were operated on in the pre-COVID period. Patients' demographics and clinical and pathological outcomes were evaluated.
There was no statistically significant difference in both periods among patient characteristics such as age, gender, and body mass index. Pre-operative laboratory results were similar between two groups. Although there was no difference in operation types, an increase was detected in Clavien-Dindo grade 3 and higher complications during the COVID period. During the pandemic, there was a significant difference in the pathological outcomes. Peritoneal cytology-positive patients were hıgher in the COVID group. More lymphovascular invasions were also detected in the COVID period. Finally, it resulted stage differences between two groups.
Because of COVID-19's heavy burden on healthcare system, delays in the diagnosis and treatment of oncological patients may occur. Therefore, this may be affected pathological and survival outcomes of cancer patients. Finally, further investigations are needed.
自 2020 年初以来，COVID-19 大流行持续改变着全球的整体生活。在这段时间里，肿瘤患者是受影响最严重的人群。由于手术和内窥镜检查数量减少，胃癌患者在治疗和诊断方面遇到了困难。因此，大流行期间早期和长期结果可能会受到影响。在这项研究中，我们旨在评估单一中心 COVID-19 对胃癌手术的影响。
患者-方法：患者分为 COVID 组和 Pre-COVID 组。本研究排除了接受新辅助化疗的患者。在 COVID 期间，有 50 名患者接受了胃癌手术，而在 Pre-COVID 期间有 64 名患者接受了手术。评估了患者的人口统计学和临床病理结果。
在患者特征（如年龄、性别和体重指数）方面，两个时期之间没有统计学上的显著差异。两组患者的术前实验室结果相似。尽管手术类型没有差异，但在 COVID 期间，Clavien-Dindo 分级 3 及以上的并发症有所增加。在大流行期间，病理结果存在显著差异。COVID 组中腹膜细胞学阳性患者更多。COVID 期间还检测到更多的血管淋巴管侵犯。最后，导致两组之间存在分期差异。
由于 COVID-19 对医疗系统造成了沉重负担，可能会导致肿瘤患者的诊断和治疗延迟。因此，这可能会影响癌症患者的病理和生存结果。最后，需要进一步的研究。
