THURSDAY, April 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) — There was a 17.3 percent decrease in the number of patients undergoing surgery for colon and rectal cancer in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online March 25 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Davide Ferrari, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues used data from the National Cancer Database to examine the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgical interventions for colorectal cancer in the United States. Data were included for 105,517 adults who underwent surgical procedures for colon and rectal cancer in 2019 and 2020.

The researchers found a 17.3 percent reduction in surgical cases during the first year of the pandemic. More advanced clinical and pathological tumor stages were seen for patients who underwent surgery in 2020 versus those who underwent surgery in 2019. No delay was reported in treatment after diagnosis. Among patients who underwent surgery during the pandemic, worse-stage colon and rectal cancer was seen among African American patients, uninsured patients, and Medicaid beneficiaries; individuals with lower incomes bore the burden of advanced colon cancer.

“The pandemic caught us unprepared, and while social distancing measures helped reduce the immediate impact of the pandemic, they may also have caused unintended consequences, leading to increased mortality in the long term for other causes,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to Becton Dickinson and Tsumura.

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