OBJECTIVES: This study examined associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and the routine monitoring and treatment of ovarian cancer (OC) patients in England.

METHODS: This retrospective study used de-identified electronic health records for OC patients diagnosed between 2014 and 2023 from UK NHS partners collated as part of the Arcturis Data Platform. Standardised monthly rates of CA125 measurements, imaging, hospital attendance and initiation of new chemotherapy lines per patient were used to examine the impact of the pandemic. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) forecasting models were fit using pre-pandemic data (1^st January 2016 to 28^th February 2020) to estimate the counterfactual rates between 1^st March 2020 and 30^th April 2021 had the pandemic not occurred.

RESULTS: A total of 4,757 adult female OC patients were identified. In the first full calendar month of the pandemic in the UK (April 2020), there were significant reductions in CA125 measurements (26% [95% CI: 13.5-35.5%]), imaging (60.4% [95% CI: 39.7-70.6%]), hospital attendance (38.0% [95% CI: 23.2-48.1%]) and initiation of new chemotherapy lines (60.6% [95% CI: 26.9-73.1%]). Routine patient monitoring (CA125 and imaging) returned to projected rates in June 2020 while hospital attendance and initiations of new chemotherapy lines took until July 2020.

CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown a significant reduction in the routine monitoring and treatment of OC patients during early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, rates returned to projected rates during the latter half of 2020. Additional research is required to investigate associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on cancer outcomes.