The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on outcomes of women with breast cancer recurrence

Abstract Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the management of several diseases. Our goal was to assess the outcomes of women diagnosed with relapsed breast cancer during the pandemic period. Methods We evaluated a cohort of 187 women with breast cancer recurrence out of a total of 2,891 patients diagnosed with breast cancer between January 2011 and March 2022. Results At the time of recurrence diagnosis, 116 patients (62%) had distant metastasis and 71 (38%) had local recurrence. Of the women with initial local recurrence, 28% (35) died, while 72% (91) of the women with distant recurrence died. The pandemic group showed a significant decrease in overall survival (OS) compared to the pre-pandemic group (median 9 months versus 22 months, respectively; HR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.19–3.12). Conclusion The pandemic had a negative impact on the survival of patients with breast cancer recurrence.