One‐year COVID‐19 outcomes on the oncology care patient pathway: Results of a French descriptive, cross‐sectional comprehensive study (ONCOCARE‐COV)

Léonard Laurent (1, 2) , Mathias Brugel (2) , Claire Carlier (1, 2) , Florentin Clere (2) , Aurélie Bertrand , Damien Botsen (2) , Camille Boulagnon‐rombi (2) , Véronique Dalstein (2, 3) , Adeline Debreuve‐theresette (1) , Sophie Deguelte (2) , Christian Garbar (1) , Rachid Mahmoudi (2, 4) , Antonin Marechal (2) , David Morland (5, 1) , Jean‐baptiste Rey (1) , Claire Schvartz (2, 3) , Catherine Vallet (2) , Yacine Merrouche (2, 1) , Florian Slimano (2, 4) , Olivier Bouché (2, 4)

1 Institut Jean Godinot [Reims]
2 Hôpital universitaire Robert Debré [Reims]
3 P3CELL - Pathologies Pulmonaires et Plasticité Cellulaire - UMR-S 1250
4 URCA - Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne
5 CRESTIC - Centre de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication - EA 3804

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a widely documented disruption in cancer care pathway. Since a resurgence of the pandemic was expected after the first lockdown in France, the global impact on the cancer care pathway over the year 2020 was investigated. Aims: This study aimed to describe the changes in the oncology care pathway for cancer screening, diagnosis, assessment, diagnosis annoucement procedure and treatment over a one-year period. Materials & Methods: The ONCOCARE-COV study was a comprehensive, retrospective, descriptive, and cross-sectional study comparing the years 2019 and 2020. All key indicators along the cancer care pathway assessing the oncological activity over four periods were described. This study was set in a high-volume, public, single tertiary care center divided in two complementary sites (Reims University Hospital and Godinot Cancer Institute, Reims, France) which was located in a high COVID-19 incidence area during both peaks of the outbreak. Results: A total of 26,566 patient's files were active during the year 2020. Breast screening (−19.5%), announcement dedicated consultations (−9.2%), Intravenous and Hyperthermic Intraoperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPECs) (−25%), and oncogeriatric evaluations (−14.8%) were heavily disrupted in regard to 2020 activity. We identified a clear second outbreak wave impact on medical announcement procedures (October, −14.4%), radiotherapy sessions (October, −16%), number of new health record discussed in multidisciplinary tumor board meeting (November, −14.6%) and HIPECs (November, −100%). Moreover, 2020 cancer care activity stagnated compared to 2019. Discussion: The oncological care pathway was heavily disrupted during the first and second peaks of the COVID-19 outbreak. Between lockdowns, we observed a remarkable but non-compensatory recovery as well as a lesser impact from the pandemic resurgence. However, in absence of an increase in activity, a backlog persisted. Conclusion: Public health efforts are needed to deal with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the oncology care pathway.

Mots clés: backlog; cancer care pathway; COVID-19 pandemic; lockdowns

Domaines: Cancer; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Léonard Laurent, Mathias Brugel, Claire Carlier, Florentin Clere, Aurélie Bertrand, et al.. One‐year COVID‐19 outcomes on the oncology care patient pathway: Results of a French descriptive, cross‐sectional comprehensive study (ONCOCARE‐COV). Cancer Medicine, 2023, 11 (24), pp.4865-4879. ⟨10.1002/cam4.4817⟩. ⟨hal-03676502⟩