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KMID : 1141320230380030193
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Kosin Medical Journal
2023 Volume.38 No. 3 p.193 ~ p.200
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The COVID-19 pandemic's impact on prostate cancer screening and diagnosis in Korea
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Kang Byeong-Jin
Kim Kyung-Hwan
Ha Hong-Koo
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Abstract
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Background: The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which started in early 2020, has had multiple impacts on cancer care. This study assessed how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced prostate cancer (PCa) screening and diagnosis in South Korea.
Methods: Patients who visited the outpatient clinic at a single institution for PCa evaluation were included in this study and divided into a pre-COVID-19 group and a COVID-19 pandemic group, based on the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing policies on March 1, 2020. The number of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, patients with elevated PSA levels, and prostate biopsy results were analyzed.
Results: In total, 8,926 PSA tests were administered during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to 15,654 before the pandemic (p<0.05). Of 2,132 patients with high PSA levels, 1,055 (49.5%) received prostate biopsies before the pandemic and 1,077 (50.5%) did so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic group had a higher detection rate of PC, and increased rates of Gleason scores (GS) 7 and 9?10, while the rate of GS 6 decreased compared to the pre-COVID-19 group (p<0.05). The rate of clinically significant PCa (csPCa) was also higher during the pandemic (p<0.05). In both magnetic resonance imaging-guided and standard biopsies, the GS 6 rate decreased, and the csPCa rate increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (each, p<0.05).
Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the detection rate of prostate biopsies and the rate of csPCa increased significantly. Thus, PCa was diagnosed at a more advanced state in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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KEYWORD
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COVID-19, Prostate-specific antigen, Prostatic neoplasms
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