March 21, 2024
Several studies have described the distinct ways the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted cancer care, but less is known about the specific ways the pandemic disrupted breast cancer, the most common non-skin cancer diagnosed in women.
Research evaluating data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) shows that breast cancer was not immune to pandemic-related stressors, with researchers finding that there was a 15-20% decrease in newly diagnosed breast cancer cases reported to CoC-accredited sites in 2020 compared to 2019.