COVID-19 and oral cancer
Reviewed by Stuart Clark

This is a Canadian retrospective paper covering the period of March 2018 to March 2022. It identified 190 patients; 91 pre-pandemic and 99 from the pandemic. From this, they found there was no increase in patient delay, professional delay or treatment delay between the two cohorts. In addition, there was no significant increase in tumour size, staging or postoperative outcomes. They acknowledge a relatively small sample size and the limitations of a retrospective study and that some of the information gathered was based on patient recollection. Nonetheless a positive message was the ability of a healthcare system to adapt to changing needs and prioritisation of patient care.

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and progression of oral cancer.
Cwintal M, Shih H, Idrissi Janati A, Gigliotti J.
INT J ORAL MAXILLOFAC SURG
2024;53(8):629–34.