Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Management During One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
BACKGROUND/AIM
To evaluate the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer (PCa) during 1 year of the COVID-19 pandemic.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
The management of men with PCa during COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-2021) was compared with the clinical activity of the 12 months before the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2019-2020).


RESULTS
The number of clinical visits, prostate biopsy, and men enrolled in active surveillance was significantly lower during the COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.05); on the contrary, the number of cases with advanced (pT3b: 11.2 vs. 25.6%; nodal positive: 14.8 vs. 46.1%) and metastatic (5.9 vs. 9.3%) PCa increased. The number of open radical prostatectomies increased compared with the ones using a laparoscopic approach; moreover, more men were treated with external radiotherapy (25.1 vs. 54.2%).


CONCLUSION
The guideline recommendations in the management of PCa should constantly adapt to the epidemiological evolution, but the overall cost of delayed diagnosis will increase in the near future.
['Pepe|Pietro|P|', 'Pepe|Ludovica|L|', 'Pennisi|Michele|M|', 'Fraggetta|Filippo|F|']
D000086382:COVID-19 D006801:Humans D008297:Male D058873:Pandemics D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms D000086402:SARS-CoV-2
Prostate cancer COVID-19 pandemic prostate cancer management