Influence of Covid 19 on the diagnosis of colorectal cancer at clinical hospital Acibadem-Sistina in Skopje-study of 264 cases

Objective: Colorectal carcinoma is the third most common malignancy in the world with the leading cause of a
cancer related mortality. The aim of this retrospective single center study was to determine whether the COVID-19
pandemic had an impact on diagnosis and stage in presentation of colorectal carcinoma.
Methods: We analyzed 264 surgically treated patients for colorectal carcinoma in the Clinical Hospital Acibadem
Sistina in Skopje in the period of 2018-2020. All cases were diagnosed by light microscope and analyzed according
to TNM Classification for malignant tumors, UICC, 8edition.
Results: A total of 112 patients underwent surgery for colorectal carcinoma before the pandemic period (2018-2019)
and 152 patients in the pandemic period (2019-2020).There was a significant increasing rate of advanced stage (IIIB,
IIIC, IVA, IVB) colorectal cancer in the pandemic period.
Conclusion: Although new studies are ongoing to evaluate the impact of COVID19 in different countries, in our study patients presented with more advanced stage of the disease.