Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Delayed Skin Cancer Services

Sarem Rashid; Hensin Tsao

doi:10.1016/j.det.2021.05.015

Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Delayed Skin Cancer Services

Dermatol Clin. 2021 Oct;39(4):627-637. doi: 10.1016/j.det.2021.05.015. Epub 2021 May 28.

Authors

Sarem Rashid¹, Hensin Tsao²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02466, USA; Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Dermatology, Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02466, USA. Electronic address: htsao@mgh.harvard.edu.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique set of challenges to cancer care centers around the world. Diagnostic and treatment delays associated with lockdown periods may be expected to increase the total number of avoidable skin cancer deaths. During this unprecedented time, dermatologists have been pressed to balance early surgical interventions for skin cancer with the risk of viral transmission. This article summarizes evidenced-based recommendations for the surgical management of cutaneous melanoma, keratinocyte cancer, and Merkel cell carcinoma during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional long-term studies are required to determine the effect of COVID-19 on skin cancer outcomes.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 delays; Evidence-based guidelines; Skin cancer; Surgical delay; Survival; Time to surgery.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Clinical Decision-Making / methods*
Delayed Diagnosis / trends*
Health Services Accessibility / trends
Humans
Patient Acceptance of Health Care / statistics & numerical data
Skin Neoplasms / epidemiology*
Skin Neoplasms / therapy*
Time Factors
Time-to-Treatment / trends*