The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Diagnosis of Skin Cancer Cases in North Cancer Alliance and Scotland

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically impacted healthcare provision in the UK and skin cancer services have had to adapt to ensure continuity of safe care. As we return to “normality” we reflect on lessons learned and the impact of the pandemic on skin cancer services. We looked at data on Public Health Scotland Dashboard, which compiles data from 14 local health boards across Scotland, comparing melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer diagnoses during the years 2020 and 2019 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic). We looked at skin cancer cases within the North Cancer Alliance (NCA) and all of Scotland. Within the NCA, 518 cases of melanoma were diagnosed in 2019, compared to 429 in 2020. Within Scotland, 1950 cases of melanoma were diagnosed in 2019, compared to 1605 in 2020. In 2019, 5103 non-melanoma skin cancer cases were diagnosed in NCA, compared to 4071 in 2020. In Scotland, 21,626 non-melanoma skin cancer cases were diagnosed in 2019, compared to 16,193 in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on skin cancer care within the NCA and the whole of Scotland. A significantly lower number of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer cases have been diagnosed within the NCA and in Scotland in 2020 compared to 2019. The trend is similar between NCA and other areas of Scotland. We must raise awareness of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer to improve timely presentation of patients during a global health crisis and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to address this problem.

The Epidemiology of Malignant Melanoma during the First Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

“…We hypothesize that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on malignant melanoma epidemiology due to decreased screening and diagnosis and treatment capabilities, determining a higher staging at diagnosis of malignant melanoma [11,12]. With almost three years having passed since the beginning of the pandemic and the increased availability of long-term data, we attempt to conduct a comprehensive evaluation in a systematic review of all epidemiological and clinical research on malignant melanoma trends and patient outcomes.…”