Pandemic disruptions impacted one in four prostate, bladder cancer patients

Approximately one-quarter of prostate cancer and bladder cancer patients requiring treatment or other ancillary care during the pandemic reported change, delay, or cancelation of care, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, held from May 13 to 16 in New Orleans.

Jacob Lang, M.D., from the University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio, and colleagues used data from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey to create a sample-weighted estimate of 1.4 million patients with history of prostate cancer and 280,379 with bladder cancer.

The researchers found that of those prostate cancer and bladder cancer patients receiving or supposed to be receiving treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, 27.2 percent reported their cancer treatment was changed, delayed, or canceled due to the pandemic. There was no significant difference seen between the cancer groups (27.2 versus 27.5 percent). Of those needing other ancillary care, 24.5 percent reported change, delay, or cancelation due to the pandemic, again with no significant differences by cancer type (24.4 versus 26.0 percent).

"Delays in bladder cancer treatment have previously been shown to increase mortality, thus necessitating further study of the long-term implications of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic on outcomes," the authors write.