Background:
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on healthcare systems, with near paralysis of non-COVID-related services during the peak of the pandemic. Pancreatic cancer is aggressive, often presenting late, with the majority of patients presenting with unresectable disease. With service disruption caused by the pandemic, there are concerns that patients with pancreatic cancer did not receive optimal treatment.
The impact is currently unknown, but may have led to delays in diagnosis, modified chemotherapy regimens, [more-rapid] disease progression, and some patients offered no treatment at all. It is essential to understand the impact of these alterations to diagnosis and treatment caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic for this COVID-generation of patients in anticipation of a second-surge, or future pandemics.
Aim:
To assess the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients across the UK. Primary objective: To assess the rate of receipt of chemotherapy at 6 and 12 months from diagnosis during the peak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, compared to pre-pandemic rates.
Secondary objective:
To assess 6 and 12-month outcomes for patients with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer during the peak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic outcomes for: overall mortality, rate of disease progression, changes to treatment offered, receipt of chemotherapy/chemoradiotherapy regimens (neo-adjuvant, adjuvant and palliative), rates of surgery and unintended bypass, and time to diagnosis and treatment.
Patient Inclusion
Newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer (only patients presenting to the centre are included, not referred from other centres)
Data Collection
Pre-pandemic cohort:
7th January to 3rd March 2019
Peak-pandemic cohort:
16th March to 10th May 2020
6 and 12-month follow-up
Data will be collected via direct upload to secure, electronic database, REDCap.
Authorship
We have a corporate authorship policy which will be 'The CONTACT Study Group'.
Collaborators will be recognised according to their input with the study.
All authorship is PubMed citeable.
Click here to see the Contact protocol in full
Example of collective Authorship