TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kleemann, Johannes
A1  - Meissner, Markus
A1  - Özistanbullu, Deniz
A1  - Balaban, Ümniye
A1  - Old, Oliver
A1  - Kippenberger, Stefan
A1  - Kloka, Jan Andreas
A1  - Kaufmann, Roland
A1  - Zacharowski, Kai
A1  - Friedrichson, Benjamin
T1  - Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer inpatient treatment in Germany – a nationwide analysis
T2  - Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
N2  - Background: SARS-CoV-2 has massively changed the care situation in hospitals worldwide. Although tumour care should not be affected, initial reports from European countries were suggestive for a decrease in skin cancer during the first pandemic wave and only limited data are available thereafter.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate skin cancer cases and surgeries in a nationwide inpatient dataset in Germany.
Methods: Comparative analyses were performed in a prepandemic (18 March 2019 until 17 March 2020) and a pandemic cohort (18 March 2020 until 17 March 2021). Cases were identified and analysed using the WHO international classification of diseases codes (ICDs) and process key codes (OPSs).
Results: Comparing the first year of the pandemic with the same period 1 year before, a persistent decrease of 14% in skin cancer cases (n = 19 063) was observed. The largest decrease of 24% was seen in non-invasive in situ tumours (n = 1665), followed by non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) with a decrease of 16% (n = 15 310) and malignant melanoma (MM) with a reduction of 7% (n = 2088). Subgroup analysis showed significant differences in the distribution of sex, age, hospital carrier type and hospital volume. There was a decrease of 17% in surgical procedures (n = 22 548), which was more pronounced in minor surgical procedures with a decrease of 24.6% compared to extended skin surgery including micrographic surgery with a decrease of 15.9%.
Conclusions: Hospital admissions and surgical procedures decreased persistently since the beginning of the pandemic in Germany for skin cancer patients. The higher decrease in NMSC cases compared to MM might reflect a prioritization effect. Further evidence from tumour registries is needed to investigate the consequences of the therapy delay and identify the upcoming challenges in skin cancer care.
Y1  - 2022
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/79291
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-792911
SN  - 1468-3083
N1  - Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
VL  - 36
IS  - 10
SP  - 1766
EP  - 1773
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Oxford [u.a.]
ER  -