The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on oncological disease extent at FDG PET/CT staging: the ONCOVIPET study.
Carmelo CaldarellaFabrizio CocciolilloSilvia TaralliMargherita LorussoValentina ScolozziDaniele Antonio PizzutoMaria Lucia CalcagniVittoria RufiniDavide GuidoFernando PalluzziLuciano GiacòAlessandro GiordanoLucia LeccisottiPublished in: European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging (2021)
Cancer patients with advanced disease at FDG PET/CT staging increased in 2020 compared with 2019, following the national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 1.5-fold with a significant increase of patients with N or M involvement. Targeted health interventions are needed to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on patient outcome.