文章：

匈牙利COVID-19疫情期间头颈部鳞状细胞癌患者活检时间缩短

Shorter Time to Biopsy of Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hungary

原文发布日期：23 January 2025

DOI: 10.3390/cancers17030360

类型: Article

开放获取: 是

英文摘要：

Background/objectives: The goal of this investigation was to compare the time to biopsy (TBI) and time to treatment (TTI) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the effect of demographic and clinical characteristics on these intervals. Methods: Our retrospective study at a large regional Hungarian cancer center analyzed data from patients aged 18 or older diagnosed with HNSCC between 1 January 2017 and 15 March 2020 (pre-COVID-19 period) and 16 March 2020 to 13 May 2021 (COVID-19 period). We calculated the time from initial physician contact to biopsy (TBI) and from biopsy to treatment initiation (TTI) and performed descriptive and exploratory statistical analyses. Results: The median TBI decreased significantly (6 vs. 3 days;p= 0.008), while the median TTI was not affected significantly (28 vs. 29 days;p= 0.972) pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, respectively. Residence in a village was linked to a significant reduction in median TBI during the pandemic (p= 0.000), coinciding with a higher proportion of rural patients diagnosed with oral cavity/oropharyngeal cancers during the pandemic (50.3% pre-pandemic vs. 67.4% during pandemic,p= 0.044). Median TTI decreased significantly during the pandemic for patients with laryngeal tumors (27.5 vs. 18.5 days;p= 0.012). Conclusions: Our study, one of a few from this region, provides insights into HNSCC patient waiting times. Improvement in TBI likely resulted from the availability of telemedicine, reduced diagnostic demands from non-cancer patients, and an increased incidence of oral cavity/oropharyngeal cancer among rural patients.

摘要翻译： 

背景/目的：本研究旨在比较COVID-19疫情前后头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）患者的活检等待时间（TBI）与治疗等待时间（TTI），并探讨人口学及临床特征对这些时间间隔的影响。方法：我们在匈牙利一家大型区域性癌症中心开展回顾性研究，分析了2017年1月1日至2020年3月15日（疫情前时期）和2020年3月16日至2021年5月13日（疫情期间）期间确诊的18岁及以上HNSCC患者数据。计算从首次就诊至活检的时间（TBI）以及从活检至开始治疗的时间（TTI），并进行描述性与探索性统计分析。结果：疫情前与疫情期间的中位TBI显著缩短（6天 vs. 3天；p=0.008），而中位TTI无显著变化（28天 vs. 29天；p=0.972）。疫情期间，乡村居民的中位TBI显著缩短（p=0.000），同时农村患者中口腔/口咽癌诊断比例更高（疫情前50.3% vs. 疫情期间67.4%，p=0.044）。喉癌患者的中位TTI在疫情期间显著缩短（27.5天 vs. 18.5天；p=0.012）。结论：作为该地区少数相关研究之一，本研究揭示了HNSCC患者的候诊时间变化。TBI的改善可能源于远程医疗的普及、非癌症患者诊断需求的减少，以及农村患者口腔/口咽癌发病率的上升。

原文链接：

Shorter Time to Biopsy of Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hungary