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. 2023 Sep;12(18):18717-18728.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.6489. Epub 2023 Sep 15.

Cancer treatment delays among cancer patients living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Ashley Khouri  1   2 , Jessica Y Islam  3 , Nathan W Van Bibber  3 , Anna E Coghill  3 , Gita Suneja  2   4
Affiliations

Cancer treatment delays among cancer patients living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Ashley Khouri et al. Cancer Med. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to care disruptions across the cancer continuum. It is unknown if immunosuppressed patients with cancer, who may be at higher risk for complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection, are disproportionately impacted. Thus, we aimed to compare delays in cancer treatment initiation between people living with HIV (PLWH) and cancer, the general cancer population (GCP), and patients with cancer and a history of solid organ transplant (SOT). Comparisons were made across the period 2 years preceding the pandemic versus the first year of the pandemic.

Methods: We used data from a real-world electronic health record-derived de-identified database (2018-2021) comprised of US patients with cancer from 800 sites of care across the country. We included patients with 19 different cancer types. We calculated time to cancer treatment initiation (TTI) as the difference between the date of cancer diagnosis and the earliest date that cancer treatment was recorded.

Results: The sample included 181 PLWH, 65,073 GCP patients, and 195 patients with a SOT. Difference-in-difference regression models adjusted for age, sex, and presence of metastatic disease at cancer diagnosis revealed a significant increase in delayed TTI among PLWH compared to the GCP during COVID-19 versus prior to COVID-19, with delays increasing by approximately 1 month during the pandemic (DID: 32.6 days [8.9-56.3]; p = 0.007). The increase in TTI for PLWH was observed across treatment modalities, including surgery (DID: 55.1 [28.8-81.3], p < 0.001) and systemic therapy (DID: 30.4 [4.6-56.3], p = 0.021).

Conclusions/relevance: PLWH experienced significant delays in cancer treatment initiation after diagnosis during the first year of COVID-19, delays that may negatively impact cancer outcomes. These data warrant patient and provider attention as the pandemic continues to impact the US healthcare system.

Keywords: COVID-19; HIV and cancer; cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Patient Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Time to cancer treatment initiation prior to COVID‐19 (January 2018 – March 2020). Differences between study groups were evaluated using a t‐test.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Time to cancer treatment initiation during COVID‐19 (March 2020–December 2020).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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