Fall in the number of cancer diagnoses during the Covid-19 pandemic: impaired staging and prognosis

• Autor(a) principal: Figueiredo, Bárbara Queiroz de
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Souza, Ana Caroline Barcelos, Machado, Brunna Gonçalves, Siqueira, Cláudia Assis, Alves, Gabriel Augusto Batista, Carvalho, João Pedro de Miranda, Moreira, Letícia Santos de Barros, Ferreira Neto, Luis, Milagre, Marianna Dutra, Baliano, Matheus Lemes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/19762
• topic: Covid-19; covid19; câncer; Câncer; epidemiologia; Epidemiologia; biópsia; Biópsia; diagnóstico; Diagnóstico.; Covid-19; Cáncer; Epidemiología; Biopsia; Diagnóstico.; Covid-19; Cancer; Epidemiology; Biopsy; Diagnosis.

Introduction: The current Covid-19 pandemic is taking health hostage. The reduction in the number of cancer diagnoses during this context, already evidenced in many countries, calls attention to a possible new epidemic: that of cases of advanced tumors, in which the prognosis is certainly worse, in a health system such as the System Health Service (SUS), in which, under normal conditions, it is already difficult to offer treatments within adequate terms. Objective: to show the impact that Covid-19 caused on cancer patients, by mapping procedures for tracking, diagnosis and treatment of patients compared to the period of 2019, under a non-pandemic scenario. Methodology: this is a descriptive and quantitative epidemiological study. The search for the incidence of cancers in Brazil was carried out during the years 2019, 2020 and 2021, registered in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) - DATASUS. Results and discussion: the reasons for this phenomenon are varied, including recommendations from the doctors themselves to postpone appointments, surgeries and routine exams, as well as reducing the capacity of hospitals with several sick health professionals, but mainly fear of patients leaving home for consultations and exams, coupled with the fear of becoming contaminated with the coronavirus in hospitals or clinics or even on public transport. Conclusion: The reduction in the number of biopsies for the diagnosis of cancer, as well as in other diagnostic criteria, has a very large impact on mortality corroborated by cancer.