Impact of COVID-19 on melanoma diagnosis

Weston, Gillian; Jeong, Haneol S.; Mu, Euphemia W.; Polsky, David; Meehan, Shane A

doi:10.1097/cmr.0000000000000717

Cited by 19 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…This increase in poor prognostic factors for melanoma after the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to a significant increase in the diagnosis of locoregionally advanced melanomas (stage III), either through diagnosis of a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy or through the diagnosis of lymph node metastases, in transit or satellites. Thus, in our study we have found a significant increase in melanomas diagnosed at stage III in the post-COVID period, results in line with those previously published by other authors [32].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Melanoma

Martínez-López

Díaz-Calvillo

Cuenca‐Barrales

et al. 2022

JCM

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Background: Early detection of melanoma is one of the main diagnostic goals of dermatologists worldwide, due to the increasing incidence of the disease in our environment. However, the irruption of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has posed a challenge to global healthcare, forcing systems to focus their resources on the fight against COVID-19. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. The exposed cohort were patients diagnosed with melanoma in the year after the general confinement in Spain (15 March 2020) and the unexposed cohort were patients with melanoma diagnosed in the previous year. Results: 130 patients were included. No differences were observed between demographic characteristics in both cohorts. The mean Breslow of melanoma before the onset of the pandemic was 1.08, increasing to 2.65 in the year after the onset of the pandemic (p < 0.001). On the other hand, the percentage of melanomas in situ decreased from 38.96% to 16.98% in the year after the declaration of the state of alarm in Spain. Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has led to a reduction in the early diagnosis of melanoma, with an increase in invasive melanomas with poor prognosis histological factors. This could lead to an increase in melanoma-related mortality in the coming years in our environment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Melanoma

Martínez-López

Díaz-Calvillo

Cuenca‐Barrales

et al. 2022

JCM

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“…2,10 In line with this hypothesis, several small-scale studies have reported thicker melanomas being diagnosed during the COVID pandemic compared with the pre-COVID era. [11][12][13][14] In contrast, recent single-institution studies from the UK and Belgium found no impact of COVID-19-related delayed diagnoses on melanoma tumour characteristics. 15,16 To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been performed with national registry data, which limit the effect of selection bias, to demonstrate the impact of delayed COVID-19 diagnostics on melanoma and cSCC tumour characteristics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

Limited impact of COVID ‐19‐related diagnostic delay on cutaneous melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma tumour characteristics: a nationwide pathology registry analysis

et al. 2022

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Background The COVID‐19 pandemic reduced the number of skin cancer diagnoses, potentially causing a progression to unfavourable tumour stages. Objectives To identify the impact of delayed diagnostics on primary invasive melanoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) by comparing tumour (pT) stage, Breslow thickness and invasion depth from before to after the first and second lockdown periods. Methods In this population‐based cohort study, histopathology reports registered between 1 January 2018 and 22 July 2021 were obtained from the nationwide histopathology registry in the Netherlands. The Breslow thickness of melanomas, invasion depth of cSCCs, and pT stage for both tumour types were compared across five time periods: (i) pre‐COVID, (ii) first lockdown, (iii) between first and second lockdowns, (iv) second lockdown and (v) after second lockdown. Breslow thickness was compared using an independent t ‐test. pT‐stage groups were compared using a χ 2 ‐test. Outcomes were corrected for multiple testing using the false discovery rate. Results In total, 20 434 primary invasive melanomas and 68 832 cSCCs were included in this study. The mean primary melanoma Breslow thickness of the prepandemic era (period i) and the following time periods (ii–v) showed no significant difference. A small shift was found towards unfavourable pT stages during the first lockdown compared with the pre‐COVID period: pT1 52·3% vs. 58·6%, pT2 18·9% vs. 17·8%, pT3 13·2% vs. 11·0%, pT4 9·1% vs. 7·3% ( P = 0·001). No relevant changes were seen in subsequent periods. No significant change in pT stage distribution was observed between the pre‐COVID (i) and COVID‐affected periods (ii–v) for cSCCs. Conclusions To date, the diagnostic delay caused by COVID‐19 has not resulted in relatively more unfavourable primary tumour characteristics of melanoma or cSCC. Follow‐up studies in the coming years are needed to identify a potential impact on staging distribution and survival in the long term.

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“…Early diagnosis and treatment is the core principle in the prevention of morbidity and mortality of the disease. Early observers during the pandemic noted significantly more aggressive disease following regional lockdowns with respect to previous controlled time-periods 6 , 8 . This decrease is contrary to our units experience of both invasive and non-invasive melanoma during the coronavirus pandemic thus far.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…It is estimated that over 28 million elective surgical procedures have been cancelled worldwide during the peak of the pandemic in both public and private practice 3 , 4 . During this period, many units reported a significant fall in urgent melanoma referrals, which may lead to patients presenting with advanced disease, requiring more extensive surgery, and obtaining inferior long term outcomes 5 , 6 . The authors of this paper sought to characterize their own experience of invasive and non-invasive melanoma during the COVID-19 pandemic, with insights into our units restructuring to continually and effectively manage the disease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%