Abstract
Background: In a previous worldwide survey, the authors showed a drastic reduction in the number of cytological specimens processed during the coronavirus disease 2019 “lockdown” period along with an increase in malignancy rates. To assess the continued impact of the pandemic on cytological practices around the world, they undertook a second follow-up worldwide survey collecting data from the post-lockdown period (2020). Methods: Participants were asked to provide data regarding their cytopathology activity during the first 12 weeks of their respective national post-lockdown period (2020), which ranged from April 4 to October 31. Differences between the post-lockdown period and the corresponding 2019 period were evaluated, and the authors specifically focused on rates of malignant diagnoses. Results: A total of 29 respondents from 17 countries worldwide joined the survey. Overall, a lower number of cytological specimens (n = 236,352) were processed in comparison with the same period in 2019 (n = 321,466) for a relative reduction of 26.5%. The overall malignancy rate showed a statistically significant increase (12,442 [5.26%] vs 12,882 [4.01%]; P <.001) during the same time period. Similar results were obtained if both malignancy and suspicious for malignancy rates were considered together (15,759 [6.58%] vs 16,011 [4.98%]; P <.001). Conclusions: The data showed a persistent reduction in the cytological specimen volume during the post-lockdown period (2020). However, the relative increase in the cytological workload in the late part of the post-lockdown is a promising finding of a slow return to normality.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 344-351 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Cancer cytopathology |
| Volume | 130 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Supported by Monitoraggio ambientale, studio ed approfondimento della salute della popolazione residente in aree a rischio–In attuazione della D.G.R. Campania n.180/2019; POR Campania FESR 2014‐2020 Progetto “Sviluppo di Approcci Terapeutici Innovativi per patologie Neoplastiche resistenti ai trattamenti (SATIN)”; and Campania Region for the Investigation of the Molecular Biology of Thyroid Cancer (grant LR n.24 29/12/2005). The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant P30 CA016672).
Funding Information:
Elena Vigliar reports personal fees from Diaceutics and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work. Lukas Bubendorf reports personal fees from Janssen, Takeda, AstraZeneca, Bayer, and Boehringer Ingelheim, from Systems Oncology; and grants from Sanofi outside the submitted work. Reinhard Büttner reports belonging to advisory boards for and receiving lecture fees from BMS, MSD, Novartis, Roche, Lilly, AstraZeneca, Lumina, AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck‐Serono, Qiagen, and Pfizer outside the submitted work. Xiaoyin Sara Jiang reports having been a consultant for Leica and having belonged to an advisory panel for Roche. Umberto Malapelle reports personal fees from Diaceutics, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, MSD, Amgen, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Eli Lilly, GSK, and Merck outside the submitted work. Spasenija Savic Prince reports personal fees from MSD, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Pfizer, and Thermo Fisher Scientific outside the submitted work. Paul A. VanderLaan reports personal fees from Gala Therapeutics, Intuitive Surgical, and Galvanize Therapeutics outside the submitted work. Giancarlo Troncone reports personal fees from Roche, MSD, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, BMS, GSK, Menarini, AstraZeneca, Amgen, and Bayer outside the submitted work. The other authors made no disclosures.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Cancer Society.
