Prostate cancer diagnosis, staging, and treatment in Sweden during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction

The first case of COVID-19 in Sweden was diagnosed in late January 2020, the first recommendations against the spread of the virus were released in mid-March, and the peak of the first wave of the pandemic was reached in March-June. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the short-term effects of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis, staging, and treatment.

Materials and methods

Data in the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden on newly diagnosed PCa cases and on the number of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed between 18 March 2020 and 2 June 2020 were compared with those in the corresponding time periods in 2017–2019, as reported until January 31 of the year after each study period.

Results

During the study period in 2020, 36% fewer PCa cases were registered in NPCR compared with the corresponding time period in previous years: 1458 cases in 2020 vs a mean of 2285 cases in 2017–2019. The decrease in new PCa registrations was more pronounced in men above age 75 years, down 51%, than in men aged 70–75, down 37%, and in men below age 70, down 28%. There was no decrease in the number of radical prostatectomies and number of radical radiotherapy courses increased by 32%.

Conclusions

During the peak of the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of men diagnosed with PCa in Sweden decreased by one third compared with previous years, whereas there was no decrease in the number of curative treatments.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• prostate cancer
• clinical cancer registry

Acknowledgments

This project was made possible by the continuous work of the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden (NPCR) steering group: Pär Stattin (chairman), Ingela Franck Lissbrant (co-chair), Camilla Thellenberg, Johan Styrke, Hampus Nugin, Eva Johansson, Lennart Åström, Magnus Törnblom, Stefan Carlsson, Marie Hjälm-Eriksson, David Robinson, Mats Andén, Ola Bratt, Olof Ståhl, Thomas Jiborn, Hans Joelsson, Gert Malmberg, Olof Akre, Johan Stranne, Jonas Hugosson, Maria Nyberg, Per Fransson, Fredrik Jäderling, Fredrik Sandin and Karin Hellström.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data on an aggregated level can be made available on a remote server upon request to the corresponding author

Additional information

Funding

This project received research support from the Swedish Cancer Society [2019-0030] and the Swedish Research Council [2020-05866]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.