The impact of early-stage COVID-19 pandemic on the diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer: A cross-sectional study using a large-scale cancer registry in Hiroshima, Japan.

From 2019 to 2020, we observed a significant decrease in the diagnosis of curable early-stage gastric cancer and treatments, although the interval from diagnosis to treatment decreased. This study suggests that cancer screening played a significant role in the decline in cancer diagnosis that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even under COVID-19 pandemic conditions, there should be an awareness of cancer screening and endoscopic follow-up.