Slowdown of Cancer Surgeries During Pandemic May Have Impacted Patient Survival: Study

Paramedics wheel a patient into the emergency department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on Jan. 13, 2021. The Canadian Prss/Cole Burston

Many surgeries were postponed to preserve health-care capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet these measures may have resulted in shorter survival rates for cancer patients, a new study shows.

Published March 21 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the study evaluates the long-term consequences of pandemic-related cancer surgery slowdowns on cancer survival in Ontario.