Evaluation of lymph node status in cancer patients during pandemic period

Abstract

Background. This is a clinicopathological study comparing lymph node involvement in breast carcinomas before and during the COVID-19 period. During the pandemic, access to healthcare was limited, which led to a delay in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant tumors, which often presented in advanced stages, with lymph node metastases. Methods. A retrospective study was performed on 40 patients with carcinomas treated by surgical excision of the tumor combined with lymph node resection. Histopathological examination of lymph nodes was performed to detect malignant metastases, and the mean lymph node positivity rate was calculated. Odds ratio was used to measure the association between pre covid era and covid era (p value < 0.05 being considered statistically significant). Results. Lymph node metastasis was observed in 10 patients in 2019 (50%) and in 16 patients in 2021 (80%). The average node positivity rate was significantly higher in 2021 (39.4%) than in 2019 (21.1%). Conclusion. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a considerable delay in presenting patients for symptoms of malignancy. This led to a delay in the diagnosis of malignancies, which were treated in advanced stages, frequently with metastases in the regional lymph nodes. Patient awareness should be improved to ensure early presentation and reporting of symptoms. Surgeons must be more vigilant and fully explore the dissection field to ensure that all involved lymph nodes are resected, thus avoiding recurrence and improving the patient's overall prognosis.