Head and neck cancer in the post-COVID era: does the pandemic still linger?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34631/sporl.3160Keywords:
Head and Neck Cancer, COVIDAbstract
Objective: To understand if the pandemic's effects reflected in the post-COVID period for HNC patients.
Materials and Methods: Retrospective study including all patients with a diagnosis of HNC between January 2020 and December 2025. Cancer was staged using the AJCC 2025 guidelines.
Results: 277 patients were included, 89.5% (n= 248) from the male sex, with a mean age of 63.49 years. Referral to appointment time was shorter during COVID (p= 0.009), with no differences found in observation to diagnosis time (p= 0.328) and diagnosis to treatment time (p= 0.818). No significant difference was found between the number of patients with Stage III-IV disease (p= 0.191).
The percentage of patients who died before the 1-year mark was significantly higher for patients diagnosed during COVID years (p= 0.042).
Conclusion: Adaption during COVID minimized the negative impacts of the pandemic, with no significant difference in staging and mortality decreasing as the pandemic progressed.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Clara Serdoura Alves, Telma Feliciano, Joana Dias, Mariline Santos, João Lino
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