Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care delivery

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has drastically impacted cancer patients, forcing many patients to undergo sudden and unplanned changes to their cancer care. Oncologists and surgeons have had to face the difficulty of deciding how to best continue care for their patients while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 infection. The COVID-19 pandemic may have also created barriers for many patients to adhere to treatment recommendations and to deal with cancer treatment induced side effects and co-morbidities. Minority populations, specifically Blacks and Latinos across the US, are experiencing disparities in COVID-19 infections and related deaths. We fear that in addition to disparities in COVID-19 infections and deaths, the pandemic is also widening the existing cancer disparities among Blacks and Latinos. We propose to asses the impact of ongoing changes in cancer care delivery among diverse populations and to better serve cancer care patients as the pandemic continues to impact their lives. We will do this by evaluating the changes and type of care received by patients since the pandemic started, and its impact on short-term outcomes. We will also reach out to patients to administer surveys to understand the impact of COVID-19 on cancer delivery and treatment adherence. Our study will include patients diagnosed since the pandemic started at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles, the University of Florida Health in Jacksonville, Florida, and the Capital Regional Cancer Center in Tallahassee, Florida. This study is done in partnership with the Florida-California CaRE2 Health Equity Center (www.care2healthequitycenter.org)