Impact of COVID-19 on older women presenting with breast cancer (Poster Presentation)

Abstract

Introduction: Hong Kong reported the first case of COVID-19 on 23 January 2020. This study aims to compare the functional and cognitive status, and treatment variations between older women with primary breast cancer presenting before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives: As part of an ongoing study to investigate the demographics, treatment and comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) measures among older women with primary breast cancer, comparison was made between those presenting before and after the COVID-19 onset. Methods: Consecutive new patients, who are aged 70 or above with a diagnosis of early operable breast cancer, were recruited in a university affiliated breast centre. CGA was adopted using a validated cancer-specific tool. The decision of surgical or nonsurgical treatment was independently made regardless of the study assessment. Results and Conclusion: There were 111 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and 99 patients (89.2%) agreed to participate. Sixty-one patients presented before the onset from August 2018 to January 2020 (around 3.4 patients per month), and thirty-eight patients presented between February 2020 and January 2021 (around 3.2 patients per month). Despite the pandemic, the treatment with upfront surgery or primary endocrine therapy did not differ significantly between the two groups (p = 0.206). Patients presented after the onset had better functional and cognition status (p < 0.005). They also scored better in psychological evaluation (p = 0.014) and social assessment (p < 0.005). Those who presented after the onset were more robust than those presented before the onset in general. One of the postulations was those frail patients might avoid seeking medical consultations during the pandemic, thus selecting those flavorful patients to be recruited in this study. Ongoing studies are needed to investigate the impact on the presentation of older women with breast cancer.