Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on skin cancer diagnosis: A Single-Center Study

Abstract

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on healthcare workers worldwide, including in dermatology and pathology. Under these conditions, admitted patient numbers, excision/biopsy numbers, and malignant/benign ratios were influenced. This study aimed to analyze the differences in the diagnoses of the radically excised skin tumors or skin biopsies. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed between September 2018 and August 2021. Of the 11,501 total cases, 7602 were established during the non-COVID-19 period (September 2018- March 2020) and 3899 cases were established during the COVID-19 period (March 2020-August 2021). Malignant cases were classified as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and malignant melanoma (MM). Results: During the non-COVID-19 period, 592 (7.8%) out of 7602 cases were malignant; in the COVID-19 period, 439 (11.3%) out of 3899 cases were malignant. However, the total percentages of malignant cases were significantly increased during the COVID-19 period when compared with non-COVID-19 period (p < .001) despite the reduction in the case numbers. When the pre- and post-pandemic periods were compared, a statistically significant difference was found between the number of cases diagnosed with both SCC and BCC (both p < .001). However, for MM, there was no significance (p = .656). Conclusions: Even in pandemics conditions clinicians and pathologists, who are interested in dermatological lesions, should be aware and sensitive about dermatological malignancies. It is also important to raise awareness of the public with more sensitive health policies because any delay during the diagnosis and treatment period may cause fatal consequences or permanent damages for the patients. Keywords: Dermatopathology, COVID-19, Malignant melanoma, Basal cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma

Amaç: COVID-19 salgını, dermatoloji ve patoloji dahil olmak üzere dünya çapındaki sağlık çalışanları üzerinde derin bir etkiye sahip olmuştur. Bu koşullar altında, başvuran hasta sayıları, eksizyon/biyopsi sayıları ve malign/benign oranları etkilenmiştir. Bu çalışma, radikal olarak eksize edilen deri tümörleri veya deri biyopsilerinin tanılarındaki farklılıkları analiz etmeyi amaçlamıştır. Materyal ve Metod: Eylül 2018 ile Ağustos 2021 arasında kesitsel olarak yapıldı. Toplam 11.501 vakanın 7602'si COVID-19 olmayan dönemde (Eylül 2018- Mart 2020) ve 3899 vaka COVID-19 döneminde (Mart 2020-Ağustos 2021) belirlendi. Malign vakalar skuamöz hücreli karsinom (SCC), bazal hücreli Karsinom (BCC) ve malign melanom (MM) olarak sınıflandırıldı. Bulgular: COVID-19 dışı dönemde 7602 vakanın 592'si (%7,8) malign idi; COVID-19 döneminde 3899 vakanın 439'u (%11,3) malign idi. Bununla birlikte, vaka sayılarındaki azalmaya rağmen, toplam malign vaka yüzdeleri COVID-19 döneminde, COVID-19 olmayan döneme kıyasla önemli ölçüde arttı (p