Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ANNALS OF CLINICAL AND ANALYTICAL MEDICINE, sa.9, ss.631-634, 2024 (ESCI)
Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the pandemic on breast cancer surgery. Material and Methods: The study was conducted retrospectively. Breast cancer patients who were operated in 2020 were considered as the pandemic period group, and those operated in the previous year (2019) and the following year (2021) were considered the non-pandemic group. The study was completed by comparing the demographic, pathological and clinical data of the patients. Results: A total of 78 patients, 31 in 2019, 16 in 2020, and 31 in 2021, were included in our study (p=0.07). Tumour sizes were 2.4 (+/- 1.2) cm in 2019, 2.4 (+/- 1.3) cm in 2020, and 2 (+/- 0.6) cm in 2021 (p=0.23). The tumour was most commonly located on the left side in all years. (p=0.84) The most common tumour type in all years was invasive ductal carcinoma (p=0.62). Breast conserving surgery (BCS) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) were performed most frequently in all years. (p=0.07) In 2019, 3.2% (n=1), in 2020, 18.8% (n=3), and in 2021, 19.4% (n=6) of the patients received neoadjuvant treatment (p=0.15). When the preoperative stages were analysed, patients were most commonly stage 1 breast cancer in all years (p=0.71). Discussion: Our study does not support the information stated by previous studies that the pandemic decreased the rate of breast cancer diagnosis and increased the rate of advanced breast cancer cases. However, when the long-term effects of the pandemic are analysed, it will be much clearer whether these effects are present.