Incidence of gynaecological cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: A population-based study in the Netherlands

• Published in: Cancer epidemiology 2023-08, Vol.85, p.102405-102405, Article 102405
• Main Authors: Oymans, Eline J., de Kroon, Cor D., Bart, Joost, Nijman, Hans W., van der Aa, Maaike A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age groups; Cancer; Cervical cancer; Communicable Disease Control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Endometrial cancer; Endometrium; Epidemiology; Female; Genital cancers; Genital Neoplasms, Female - epidemiology; Gynecological cancer; Gynecology; Health care access; Humans; Incidence; Malignancy; Medical diagnosis; Netherlands - epidemiology; Ovarian cancer; Pandemics; Population studies; Population-based studies; Retrospective Studies; Vulvar cancer; Womens health
• ISSN: 1877-7821; 1877-783X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.canep.2023.102405

To study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown on the number of diagnoses of gynaecological malignancies in the Netherlands. We performed a retrospective cohort study using data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR) on women of 18 years and older diagnosed with invasive endometrial, ovarian, cervical or vulvar cancer in the period 2017–2021. Analyses were stratified for age, socioeconomical status (SES) and region. The incidence rate of gynaecological cancer was 67/100.000 (n = 4832) before (2017–2019) and 68/100.000 (n = 4833) during (2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparing the number of diagnoses of the two periods for the four types of cancer separately showed no significant difference. During the first wave of COVID-19 (March-June 2020), a clear decrease in number of gynaecological cancer diagnoses was visible (20–34 %). Subsequently, large increases in number of diagnoses were visible (11–29 %). No significant differences in incidence were found between different age groups, SES and regions. In 2021 an increase of 5.9 % in number of diagnoses was seen. In the Netherlands, a clear drop in number of diagnoses was visible for all four types of gynaecological cancers during the first wave, with a subsequent increase in number of diagnoses in the second part of 2020 and in 2021. No differences between SES groups were found. This illustrates good organisation of and access to health care in the Netherlands. •The decrease in incidence was mainly visible during the first wave of COVID-19.•Differences in COVID-19 burden across the country did not impact the incidence.•No differences in incidence were found for SES and age before and during COVID-19.