Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Objective: Prior to the 2020 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, breast cancer (BC) was already a major healthcare concern globally, including in South Africa (SA). The pandemic forced adjustments in BC management and may have also impacted BC presentation characteristics due to social beh...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Galenos Publishing House
2025-04-01
|
| Series: | European Journal of Breast Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.eurjbreasthealth.com/articles/differences-in-age-stage-and-biology-of-breast-cancer-presentations-at-a-private-breast-unit-in-johannesburg-before-and-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/doi/ejbh.galenos.2025.2024-12-2 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850067235118252032 |
|---|---|
| author | Nazreen Kara Dominic da Costa Ella Dougherty Amina Mahomed Cassandra Mbanje Carol-Ann Benn Dominic van Loggerenberg |
| author_facet | Nazreen Kara Dominic da Costa Ella Dougherty Amina Mahomed Cassandra Mbanje Carol-Ann Benn Dominic van Loggerenberg |
| author_sort | Nazreen Kara |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Prior to the 2020 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, breast cancer (BC) was already a major healthcare concern globally, including in South Africa (SA). The pandemic forced adjustments in BC management and may have also impacted BC presentation characteristics due to social behavior changes. The aim of this study was to describe BC presentations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic at a single facility in SA.
Materials and Methods. A retrospective record review was conducted to compare BC presentations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “before” period spanned 11 January 2019 to 31 March 2020 and the “during” period spanned 1 April 2020 to 20 December 2021. The variables analysed included patient age, BC stage at presentation, and tumor biology.
Results: A total of 731 patients were seen in the “before” period, and 636 in the “during” period. While there was a significant (p<0.0001) decrease in the mean number of patients who presented to the unit per month during the pandemic, no significant differences were observed in age, BC stage at presentation, or tumor biology between the two study periods.
Conclusion: Despite a significant reduction in new BC cases during the COVID-19 pandemic in SA, patient age, BC stage, and tumor biology remained unchanged. The rapid implementation of digital tools for healthcare management is likely to have played an important role in maintaining patient access to care. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-76f600a260214fd78d57b496b1d2b5ea |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2587-0831 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Galenos Publishing House |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of Breast Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-76f600a260214fd78d57b496b1d2b5ea2025-08-20T02:48:24ZengGalenos Publishing HouseEuropean Journal of Breast Health2587-08312025-04-0121213213610.4274/ejbh.galenos.2025.2024-12-2Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 PandemicNazreen Kara0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5712-7307Dominic da Costa1https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3708-8126Ella Dougherty2https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5057-7326Amina Mahomed3https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8392-3207Cassandra Mbanje4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0509-9292Carol-Ann Benn5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4777-4316Dominic van Loggerenberg6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5130-5651Clinic of Internal Medicine, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Surgery, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Surgery, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Population Health, Oxford University Faculty of Medicine, Oxford, United KingdomDepartment of Breast Surgery, Netcare Milpark Breast Care Centre of Excellence, Johannesburg, South AfricaDepartment of Breast Surgery, Netcare Milpark Breast Care Centre of Excellence, Johannesburg, South AfricaObjective: Prior to the 2020 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, breast cancer (BC) was already a major healthcare concern globally, including in South Africa (SA). The pandemic forced adjustments in BC management and may have also impacted BC presentation characteristics due to social behavior changes. The aim of this study was to describe BC presentations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic at a single facility in SA. Materials and Methods. A retrospective record review was conducted to compare BC presentations before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The “before” period spanned 11 January 2019 to 31 March 2020 and the “during” period spanned 1 April 2020 to 20 December 2021. The variables analysed included patient age, BC stage at presentation, and tumor biology. Results: A total of 731 patients were seen in the “before” period, and 636 in the “during” period. While there was a significant (p<0.0001) decrease in the mean number of patients who presented to the unit per month during the pandemic, no significant differences were observed in age, BC stage at presentation, or tumor biology between the two study periods. Conclusion: Despite a significant reduction in new BC cases during the COVID-19 pandemic in SA, patient age, BC stage, and tumor biology remained unchanged. The rapid implementation of digital tools for healthcare management is likely to have played an important role in maintaining patient access to care.https://www.eurjbreasthealth.com/articles/differences-in-age-stage-and-biology-of-breast-cancer-presentations-at-a-private-breast-unit-in-johannesburg-before-and-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/doi/ejbh.galenos.2025.2024-12-2breast cancerpandemicagestagebiologypresentation |
| spellingShingle | Nazreen Kara Dominic da Costa Ella Dougherty Amina Mahomed Cassandra Mbanje Carol-Ann Benn Dominic van Loggerenberg Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic European Journal of Breast Health breast cancer pandemic age stage biology presentation |
| title | Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Differences in Age, Stage and Biology of Breast Cancer Presentations at A Private Breast Unit in Johannesburg Before and During The COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | differences in age stage and biology of breast cancer presentations at a private breast unit in johannesburg before and during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | breast cancer pandemic age stage biology presentation |
| url | https://www.eurjbreasthealth.com/articles/differences-in-age-stage-and-biology-of-breast-cancer-presentations-at-a-private-breast-unit-in-johannesburg-before-and-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/doi/ejbh.galenos.2025.2024-12-2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nazreenkara differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic AT dominicdacosta differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic AT elladougherty differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic AT aminamahomed differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic AT cassandrambanje differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic AT carolannbenn differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic AT dominicvanloggerenberg differencesinagestageandbiologyofbreastcancerpresentationsataprivatebreastunitinjohannesburgbeforeandduringthecovid19pandemic |