ABSTRACT

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic introduced a global distraction effect in cancer patients’ care. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of the pandemic on the largest molecular diagnostics center for cancer patients and high-risk individuals in Serbia.

Research design and methods: EGFR, KRAS/NRAS, BRAF, and BRCA1/2 mutation testing were performed by qPCR and NGS. NGS was used for panel testing of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer and cancers associated with Lynch syndrome. The analytical output during the state of emergency (SoE) was compared to the period before and after the outbreak using one-way ANOVA. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: A 38% reduction in the number of analysis was detected during the SoE. After the SoE, a 19% reduction was noted compared to SoE and 50% compared to the period before the SoE (p = 0.038). Three of the 48 scheduled appointments for pretest genetic counseling were carried out during the SoE, but the number of NGS tests increased by 50%.

Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had a profound negative effect on the diagnostic output of our centralized molecular diagnostics center. The only positive effect was shortening of waiting lists for hereditary cancer patients and high-risk individuals.

抽象的

背景：SARS-CoV-2大流行在癌症患者的护理中引入了全球性分心效应。这项研究的目的是探讨大流行对塞尔维亚最大的癌症患者和高危人群的分子诊断中心的影响。

研究设计和方法：通过qPCR和NGS进行EGFR，KRAS / NRAS，BRAF和BRCA1 / 2突变测试。NGS用于遗传性乳腺癌/卵巢癌和与Lynch综合征相关的癌症的面板检测。使用单向方差分析将紧急状态（SoE）期间的分析输出与爆发之前和之后的时期进行比较。统计学显着性设定为p <0.05。

结果：在SoE期间检测到的分析数量减少了38％。在SoE之后，与SoE相比减少了19％，与SoE之前相比减少了50％（p = 0.038）。在SoE期间进行了48个预定的预测试遗传咨询预约中的三个，但NGS测试的数量增加了50％。

结论：SARS-CoV-2大流行对我们集中式分子诊断中心的诊断输出产生了深远的负面影响。唯一的积极效果是缩短了遗传性癌症患者和高危人群的等待名单。