Data from a single-center study in Scotland suggested that there were more patients with lung cancer admitted acutely with cancer, non-COVID-19-related illness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Early and late lockdown were characterized by a reduction in self-presentation and longer resulting admission suggesting that patients were admitted with more complex pathology and consequently had longer admission,” said Felix Torrance, MBBS, of Edinburgh Cancer Centre, Western General Hospital, NHS Lothian, United Kingdom, who presented the study (Abstract 3554) at IASLC 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Lung cancer patients experience many barriers to accessing healthcare, such as low socioeconomic status and guilt around their diagnosis, Dr. Torrance said. However, these patients often have comorbidities and need to access healthcare during their treatment.
“Anecdotally, we observed patients admitted during the pandemic were more unwell and required more intervention than normal,” he said.