The Impact of Delays During the Pandemic Months on Survival of Lung Cancer Patients in Canada in 2020.

Objective Most cancer deaths in the world are due to lung cancer and delays in diagnosis and treatment sharply reduce survival in lung cancer patients. This study examined the impact of delays during the early months of the pandemic on the survival of newly identified lung cancer patients in Canada in 2020. Methods The incidence of lung cancer, using population statistics from Statistics Canada and incidence rates from the Canadian Cancer Statistics in 2020, was estimated. Stage-wise incidences for each sex were calculated for each age group for each month of 2020. Using delay impact on each stage the final results were calculated. Results A total of 5,004 life years would have been lost due to 448 deaths in the long term (40 months) attributed to the delays caused during March, April, May and June in Canada. The estimated incidence for all stages of lung cancer for these months was 9,801 although the observed incidence was expected to be 6,571 due to reduced screenings. Hence, it was within the missing 3,231 cases that delays would occur. Over the short term (10 months) there are expected to be 151 early deaths and 273 deaths in the intermediate-term (20 months). Conclusion The COVID pandemic is estimated to result in increased mortality and fewer diagnosis’ of lung cancer patients in Canada in 2020.