The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly upended cancer care in many countries including the US. The need to reduce community spread and reserve hospital capacity for the most severe COVID-19 cases led to rescheduling or postponement of cancer care appointments (Nelson, 2020; Patt et al., 2020; Ueda et al., 2020; Zheng et al., 2021; Wenger et al., 2022). These control measures significantly decreased cancer-related patient encounters in the early phase of the pandemic, particularly for cancer screenings (Patt et al., 2020). Comparing March to July 2020 with the same period in 2019, there was a substantial decrease in cancer screenings, biopsies, surgeries, office visits, and therapy; the decreases varied by service location and cancer type (Patt et al., 2020). For example, breast cancer screenings decreased by 89.2% and colorectal by 84.5% (Warner et al., 2020). Patients reported delays in receiving cancer care, including follow-up clinic appointments and cancer therapies, such as radiation, infusion therapies, and surgeries (London et al., 2022; Riera et al., 2021).

Cancer care delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic are anticipated to lead to increased cancer morbidity and mortality (Blay et al., 2021; Malagón et al., 2022). One study found an association between surgical and screening delays and increased cancer mortality among patients diagnosed with colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer during the pandemic (Zheng et al., 2021). Delayed mammography and computed tomography for lung cancer were associated with advanced stage of cancer at diagnosis (Zheng et al., 2021). Another study determined delayed surgery for lung cancer was associated with worse survival (Mayne et al., 2021). For breast screenings, some evidence suggests that patients were reluctant to return for mammograms after care disruptions (Miller et al., 2021). Thus, cancer care disruptions during COVID-19 could have detrimental future impacts on cancer outcomes and may require changes to public health and clinical strategies across the cancer prevention and control continuum.

It is unclear if patients felt comfortable returning to care in the context of rapidly changing information and guidelines related to COVID-19 and even now that guidelines are more consistent and vaccines are available. There is concern about whether patients will prioritize immediate unmet social needs that might be a result of or exacerbated by COVID-19, such as food insecurity, employment loss, and housing challenges, over disease prevention. Furthermore, people of color, including African Americans, Latinx, and Native communities, as well as those employed in low-wage occupations, are likely to have greater concerns over COVID-19 safety, in addition to the immediate concerns noted above (Cancino et al., 2020). Rural communities that already experience limited access to cancer care, have less capacity to manage COVID-19 (Segel et al., 2021). Finally, hospitals rapidly increased the use of telehealth to continue cancer care during COVID-19, but older people and those who lived in low-income and rural areas, or were less likely to have commercial insurance were less likely to participate (Darcourt et al., 2021; Jaffe et al., 2020). This combination of factors may exacerbate existing disparities (Cancino et al., 2020).

This survey study was conducted by National Cancer Institute (NCI)—designated Siteman Cancer Center to elucidate: (1) to what extent cancer care appointments (including preventive screenings and treatment) in the bi-state Midwestern catchment area were canceled/postponed, (2) patients’ needs for returning to care, and (3) correlates of care disruption across the catchment area. This study aligns with the NCI’s goal to support population health assessments of their cancer center’s catchment areas. In our catchment area, the cancer burden is significantly greater than the US averages for multiple cancers. Moreover, racial and geographical disparities persist such that African American patients have higher incidence and mortality for lung, colorectal, late-stage breast cancer diagnoses, and prostate cancers compared to White patients. Rural counties also have higher mortality (but not incidence) for melanoma, breast, and prostate cancer compared to urban areas (National Cancer Institute, 2022).

Thus, we explore how socio-contextual factors impact cancer health disparities across the continuum of cancer control and prevention during COVID-19 in this bi-state Midwestern catchment area. This analysis is guided by the theory that social identities like race, ethnicity, social class, and gender shape many contextual factors related to cancer, COVID, and other outcomes and are ultimately the fundamental drivers of disease. We stratify our results by race because of the differential impact of COVID-19 on communities of color and the over-representation of socioeconomic factors such as low-income, low-wage work often experienced by communities of color (Acosta et al., 2021; Athavale et al., 2021; Millett et al., 2020).

Using primary data collected from residents across the 82-county Siteman catchment area overlapping Missouri and Illinois, we learned that across different type of screenings, 21% to 57% of cancer screening or treatment appointments were canceled/postponed from March 2020 through the end of 2020. Across all races, residents with higher educational attainment had 1.25 higher odds of care disruption for general or cancer care compared to residents with lower educational attainment; this association remained significant among Black and White residents. Additionally, White residents of older age, assigned female at birth, or having scheduled a telehealth appointment, also had higher odds of care disruption. Interestingly, while the sample size is small, we did see a trend that suggested that Black people with 3+comorbidities were more likely to cancel/postpone care. Finally, knowing their doctor’s office or clinic is taking the appropriate COVID-related safety precautions was the greatest reported need for returning to care (33.8%).

Delays in cancer screening can lead to stage shifts where patients are diagnosed at later stages and thus have a higher risk for cancer morbidity and mortality. Understanding which screenings were impacted locally and for whom and identifying patient concerns can inform community outreach and engagement efforts. This allows programs to target groups in their catchment, most likely to have delayed screening and draft messaging that can alleviate patient concerns and in turn facilitate a return to care. Moreover, knowing that those with 3+comorbidities, who likely have additional health needs were more likely to cancel/postpone appointments could also inform recruitment methods in getting people to return to care. It is possible that these cancellations and postponements were due to an increased risk of contracting and dying of COVID; however, it is critical to get this high need population to return to care so widening disparities are avoided.

Mammograms and Pap tests are an area of increased interest for our catchment area given the high number of women scheduled for screening. Approximately 38% of the 170 women who were scheduled for mammograms had canceled/postponed appointments. Similarly, 45% of the 188 women scheduled for Pap tests had canceled/postponed appointments. Delays in colorectal cancer screening impacted a smaller number of people, but colorectal cancer screening is an important area given the high proportion of cancellations/postponements, overall low number of scheduled appointments in general, and high colorectal cancer disparities in the region. Of the 51 people scheduled for a colonoscopy, 57% canceled/postponed appointments, and of the 38 scheduled for a blood stool test, 29% canceled/postponed appointments as well. To help healthcare systems reduce the cancer screening deficit, community outreach and engagement strategies need to address these needs. For example, employing mobile strategies such as the use of mobile mammography and home-based cervical and colorectal cancer screening tests could serve those most impacted.

These data are consistent with prior literature that suggests a reduction in general medical and cancer-related appointments (Patt et al., 2020; Wenger et al., 2022; London et al., 2022; Czeisler et al., 2020). This study allows us to understand the magnitude of the impact across eastern/southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. Future research exploring whether those with higher educational attainment were more likely to cancel/postpone appointments because they were more likely to have better access to scheduling future appointments could further elucidate the extent of educational disparities in healthcare access.

These cross-sectional data cannot infer causality however, many of the correlates of interest (e.g. race, educational attainment) pre-date COVID-19 and the need to consider postponing clinical care. Thus, it is unlikely these results are subject to reverse causation. Also, those excluded due to missing data were more likely to be uninsured. If uninsured persons were also more likely to have canceled/postponed appointments, this could potentially bias results about care disruptions by insurance status towards the null and underestimate the impact. Finally, unmeasured confounding is possible in cross-sectional studies like ours. Despite these limitations, this is a significant study that can improve our understanding of COVID-19 impacts on cancer prevention and control and offer specific insights into the region. In our data, those with higher education were more likely to cancel/postpone care. This indicates that any trends seen in increasing late-stage diagnosis might occur across socioeconomic categories. Additionally, while Black and White people of higher educational attainment both had increased odds of care disruption, having a scheduled telehealth visit was significantly associated with higher odds of care disruption only for White residents. This suggests that while White people were canceling/postponing in-person care, this care may have been substituted with telehealth appointments. Many of these screenings cannot be done virtually, yet this warrants further investigation to understand if care disruption does not always equate to being disconnected from healthcare for some and the subsequent impact on racial disparities in cancer care.

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available on Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/p5x3s/. Please cite as data from this publication if used.

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Author details

1. Kia L Davis

   Department of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Writing – review and editing

   For correspondence

   DavisKL@wustl.edu

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-1338-3018

2. Nicole Ackermann

   Department of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7411-3233

3. Lisa M Klesges

   Department of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   has received consulting fees from Dana Farber Cancer Institute. The author is on the Board of Directors for American College of Epidemiology and Neighborhood Preservation, Inc. The author has no other competing interests to declare

4. Nora Leahy

   Department of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Investigation, Project administration, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

5. Callie Walsh-Bailey

   Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

6. Sarah Humble

   Department of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

   "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0694-091X

7. Bettina Drake

   Department of Surgery, Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   No competing interests declared

8. Vetta L Sanders Thompson

   Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, United States

   Contribution

   Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

   Competing interests

   has received consulting fees from Novaris and Chan-Zuckerburg Initiave via National Academies of Science. The author has received payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from St. Jude Hospital, Scholar Strategies, University of Missouri St. Louis, Ohio State University Health Services and Management Program Management Institute Annual Conference, and Nebraska Conference on Health Equity Key Note. The author is a Board Director, Vice Chair and Programmatic Strategies Chairperson for Missouri Foundation for Health, and the author receives no financial compensation for these roles. The author has no other competing interests to declare

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