Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39876689›Full record

SynthesisActa oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden)2025

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on time to treatment in head and neck cancer management: a systematic review.

Malte Grumstrup Simonsen, Amanda-Louise Fenger Carlander, Kathrine Kronberg Jakobsen, Christian Grønhøj, Christian Von Buchwald

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Malte Grumstrup SimonsenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark. malte.simonsen@gmail.com.ORCID 0009-0007-1395-9885
Amanda-Louise Fenger CarlanderDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.ORCID 0009-0008-3840-8083
Kathrine Kronberg JakobsenDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0003-0336-5411
Christian GrønhøjDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0002-4524-8291
Christian Von BuchwaldDepartment of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0001-6753-8129

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background and purposeCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a need for reorganization in the healthcare systems. First, we aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on time to treatment in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Second, we aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on tumor stage and changes in treatment regimens used. MATERIAL AND

methodsA systematic search in PubMed and Embase was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Inclusion criteria were: (1) Studies including patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas; (2) Studies containing a comparison of time to treatment; (3) Studies containing a well-defined time interval with restrictions on health care due to COVID-19 and a well-defined time interval without restrictions.

resultsA total of 19 studies were included comprising 24,898 patients treated for HNC cancer. Six studies (10.1% of the patients) reported an increase in waiting time within at least one interval, while seven studies reported a decrease (83.2% of the patients), and six studies found no significant effect. No changes in treatment modalities were observed. Seven of 15 studies (12.7% of the patients) observed an increase in either overall stage, size, or tumor node and metastasis classification during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these, two studies reported increased waiting times as well.

interpretationThe impact of the COIVD-19 pandemic on time to treatment was heterogenous and subject to considerable intercountry and interregional variations. A tendency toward a higher T-classification was observed. In conclusion, otorhinolaryngology departments demonstrated resilience, as the pandemic led to only slight alterations in time to treatment.

Indexed as

COVID-19Head and Neck NeoplasmsSquamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and NeckTime-to-TreatmentHumansNeoplasm StagingPandemicsSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID39876689
PMCPMC11808816

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.