Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Management During One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Pepe, Pietro; Pepe, Ludovica; Pennisi, Michele; Fraggetta, Filippo

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.