Impact of COVID-19 on the epidemiological situation of cervical cancer in Irkutsk region and Irkutsk city (2010–2020)

Background. The increasing incidence of cervical cancer in Irkutsk region causes a growing workload for healthcare institutions of all levels. Therefore, we considered it necessary to analyze the quality of cancer care in Irkutsk region and its administrative center (Irkutsk city). Objective: to analyze the epidemiological situation of cervical cancer in Irkutsk region and Irkutsk city with the consideration of COVID-19 impact. Materials and methods. We used annual forms of federal statistical surveillance No. 7 “Information on malignant tumors” and No. 35 “Information on patients with malignant tumors” for Irkutsk region and Irkutsk city, as well as the information from the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation on the age-sex structure of population for 2010–2020. All calculations were performed in accordance with the methodological recommendations of P.A. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute. Results. A total of 4,190 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in Irkutsk region in 2010–2020; of them, 780 were from Irkutsk. We observed a 3.5 % and a 25 % decrease in the absolute number of new cases in Irkutsk region and Irkutsk city, respectively. Such a difference between the region and the city can be explained by a stricter adherence to the measures aimed at prevention of new coronavirus infection with suspended screening of certain groups of the adult population, as well as infection of healthcare professionals and their mobilization to COVID-19 hospitals, which had a negative impact on cancer care and, first of all, primary diagnostics of cervical cancer. There was an increase in the incidence of cervical cancer before the pandemic in both Irkutsk region and Irkutsk city up to 2019. The effectiveness of early diagnosis (active and early detection) increased significantly from 2010 to 2019; however, it became lower in 2020, due to transformation of many inpatient settings into COVID-19 hospitals and restrictive measures for preventive medical examination. Our findings suggest underdiagnosis of diseases during screening: we observed an increasing proportion of patients with late diagnosis (from 47.1 % in 2019 to 53.8 % in 2020), and, as a result, an increase in one-year mortality (from 16.9 to 17.9 %). Conclusion. Preventive measures for COVID-19 had a negative impact on the epidemiological situation of cancer in Irkutsk region in 2020 and worsened the quality of cancer care.