Insights into the Impact of Hesitancy on Cancer Care and COVID-19

Abstract

World Health Organization findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected cancer diagnosis and management. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the optimal management of outpatient appointments, scheduled treatments, and hospitalizations for cancer patients because of hesitancy among patients and health-care providers. Travel restrictions and other factors likely affected medical, surgical, and radiation treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancer patients were more likely to be affected by severe illness and complications if they contracted COVID-19. A compromised immune system and comorbidities in cancer patients may have contributed to this increased risk. Hesitancy or reluctance to receive appropriate therapy or vaccination advice might have played a major role for cancer patients, resulting in health-care deficits. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on screening, entry into clinical trials, and hesitancy among patients and health-care professionals, limiting adjuvant and metastatic cancer treatment.

Keywords: COVID-19; cancer; hesitancy; management; treatment.

Figure 1

Upsurge in the incidence of COVID-19 in Japan from July–December 2022. This image was derived from WHO data (accessed on 15 March 2023) by Servier, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Figure 2

Timeline for global COVID 19 vaccinations—Image modified from the BBC (accessed on March 15, 2023) by Servier, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.