Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on lung cancer treatment scheduling

Objective Current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a heavy burden on the mental and physical health of patients, regional healthcare resources, and global economic activity. Many patients with lung cancer are thought to be affected by this situation. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on lung cancer treatment scheduling. Study design We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of lung cancer patients who were undergoing anti-cancer treatment at the National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center (600 beds) in Kyoto, Japan, between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020. Methods After the medical records were reviewed, the patients were assigned to one of two groups, depending on whether their lung cancer treatment schedule was delayed. We assessed the characteristics, types of histopathology and treatment, and the reason for the delay. Results A total 15 (9.1%) patients experienced the delay of lung cancer treatment during COVID-19 pandemic. Patients with treatment delay received significantly more ICIs monotherapy than patients without treatment delay (p=0.0057). On the contrary, no patients receiving molecular target agents experienced treatment delay during COVID-19 pandemic period (p=0.0027). The treatments of most of the patients were delayed per their request. Conclusion We revealed 9.1% lung cancer patients suffered anxiety and requested treatment delay during COVID-19 pandemic. Oncologists should keep in mind that patient with cancer have more anxiety than we expected under special occasions such as COVID-19 pandemic.